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Distinguished Facility-of-the-Year Awards: Soft Goods

These outdoor facility winners are excellent examples of soft-court construction.

By Peter Francesconi

There were 17 outdoor tennis facilities that took honors in the Tennis Industry/American Sports Builders Association Distinguished Facility-of-the-Year Awards for 2014, and eight of those are soft-court projects.

Five of these soft-court facility winners are located in Florida, with other winners in North Carolina, Ohio and Tennessee. But seven of these winning clay-court projects are the products of just two Florida-based specialty contractors.

At the Carmel Country Club Tennis Center in Charlotte, N.C., the entire tennis court area was demolished then reshaped to accommodate the construction of 10 new clay courts and two new hard courts. Retaining walls were introduced, and some of the new sloped, landscaped areas became casual seating areas for spectators. The new drainage system uses trench drains and swales that result in courts drying much more quickly.

As part of a Miami Beach reconstruction project, the city redesigned the Flamingo Park Tennis Center and built 17 subsurface-irrigated courts and a new tennis center building. Incorporated into the concrete curb design were new fencing and trench drains.

Existing asphalt courts were converted to eight new subsurface-irrigated courts at the Mission Bay Tennis Club in Boca Raton, Fla. The original courts were installed below the surrounding ground, so a curb was installed to raise the new court surface above the ground. Challenged by steady rain, each court had to be built separately.

The new courts at the Parkland Golf & Country Club in Parkland, Fla., consist of two new subsurface-irrigated Har-Tru courts and a new asphalt court, plus a basketball court. The project included fencing, lighting, shade cabanas and court amenities.

The tennis facility at the Portage Country Club in Akron, Ohio, had six overhead-irrigated clay courts, which were converted to subsurface-irrigated courts. The look of the facility was updated with new vinyl-coated fencing that included “cut” corners and “v’s”, and new shade canopies. Drainage was improved with new polymer concrete drains on the low-end of the court batteries.

Richland Country Club in Nashville, Tenn., also converted its two courts from overhead irrigation to subsurface irrigation. Since the facility wasn’t all on one elevation, getting material to and from the court posed a slight challenge, as did the frequent rain, which stopped the job several times.

The new construction at the Treviso Bay Fitness Center in Fort Myers, Fla., included eight subsurface-irrigated courts (in four two-court batteries), one asphalt court, a concrete Playmate practice court, two bocce ball courts and a half basketball court. The court contractor installed a red brick curb, vinyl-coated fencing, bleachers, cabanas and lighting. Because of scheduling challenges and rain that caused access problems due to mud, multiple tennis crews needed to be working seven days a week to help the general contractor meet his deadline.

The nine new courts (and one basketball court) at Valencia Reserve in Boynton Beach, Fla., were put in in two phases, which required the contractor to match the installation down to every subtle detail during the second phase of construction. The court contractor also added fencing, curbing, lights, cabanas and court supplies.

Treviso Bay Fitness Center

Fort Myers, Fla

(Nominated by Welch Tennis Courts Inc.)

No. of Courts: 9

Specialty Contractor: Welch Tennis Courts Inc.

Surface: Har-Tru Sports/California Products

Subsurface Irrigation System: Welch Tennis Courts HydroGrid

Nets, Posts, Windscreens, Nails: Welch Tennis Courts

Lighting: LSI Industries Courtsider System

Line Tapes: Har-Tru Sports

Carmel Country Club Tennis Center

Charlotte, NC

(Nominated by Global Sports & Tennis Design Group)

No. of Courts: 12

Architect/Engineer: Global Sports & Tennis Design Group

General/Specialty Contractor: Court One

Surface: Har-Tru Sports; Advanced Polymer Tech.

Lights: LSI Industries

Posts: Edwards

Nets, Windscreens: Putterman Athletics

Practice Walls: Rally Master

City of Miami Beach — Flamingo Park Tennis Center

Miami Beach, Fla.

(Nominated by Fast-Dry Courts Inc.)

No. of Courts: 17

Specialty Contractor: Fast-Dry Courts Inc.

Surface: Har-Tru Sports

Fencing: Fast-Dry Courts Inc.

Court Accessories: Fast-Dry & 10-S Tennis Supply

Windscreens: Aer-Flo

Mission Bay Tennis Club

Boca Raton, Fla.

(Nominated by Welch Tennis Courts Inc.)

No. of Courts: 8

Specialty Contractor: Welch Tennis Courts Inc.

Surface Material: Har-Tru

Subsurface Irrigation System: Welch Tennis Courts HydroGrid

Nets, Posts, Nails: Welch Tennis Courts

Line Tapes: Har-Tru Sports

Parkland Golf & Country Club

Parkland, Fla.

(Nominated by Welch Tennis Courts Inc.)

No. of Courts: 3

Specialty Contractor: Welch Tennis Courts Inc.

Surface: Har-Tru Sports/California Products

Subsurface Irrigation System: Welch Tennis Courts HydroGrid

Nets, Posts, Windscreens, Nails: Welch Tennis Courts

Line Tapes: Har-Tru Sports

Portage Country Club

Akron, Ohio

(Nominated by Welch Tennis Courts Inc.)

No. of Courts: 6

Specialty Contractor: Welch Tennis Courts Inc.

Surface: Har-Tru Sports

Subsurface Irrigation System: Welch Tennis Courts HydroGrid

Nets, Posts, Nails: Welch Tennis Courts

Line Tapes: Har-Tru Sports

Richland Country Club

Nashville, Tenn.

(Nominated by Welch Tennis Courts Inc.)

No. of Courts: 2

Specialty Contractor: Welch Tennis Courts Inc.

Surface: Har-Tru Sports

Subsurface Irrigation System: Welch Tennis Courts HydroGrid

Nets, Posts, Nails: Welch Tennis Courts

Line Tapes: Har-Tru Sports

Valencia Reserve

Boynton Beach, Fla.

(Nominated by Fast-Dry Courts Inc.)

No. of Courts: 9

Specialty Contractor: Fast-Dry Courts Inc.

Surface: Har-Tru Sports/Nova System (basketball court)

Court Accessories: Fast-Dry & 10-S Tennis Supply

Lighting: LSI Industries

For details on the 2015 Outstanding Facility-of-the-Year Awards, contact the ASBA at 866-501-ASBA or info@sportsbuilders.org, or visit sportsbuilders.org.

See all articles by Peter Francesconi

About the Author

Peter Francesconi is editorial director of Tennis Industry magazine.

From the April 2015 issue
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