Matt Pulford, Campus Carrier Staff Reporter
Depending on a Nov. 5 vote, Berry may donate 30 acres of land for what would be the largest tennis facility in the Southeast.
The 82-court facility would be located northwest of Mount Berry Square Mall.
Floyd County’s special-purpose local-option sales tax (SPLOST) would finance the construction of this facility, said Vice President of Student Affairs Debbie Heida. According to floydcountyga.org, the deciding vote will allocate $11 million of SPLOST funding for the building of the “Tennis Center of Georgia at Berry College.”
Apart from the tennis facility, there are 26 other improvements and projects for Rome and Floyd County on the bill, including trail expansion, an upgrade to The Forum, additional resources for the Rome-Floyd Recycling Center and countywide sewer improvements.
The largest portion of SPLOST funding would go to the construction of the “Tennis Center of Georgia at Berry College.” Floyd County voters will decide on the measures on Nov. 5.
This facility would be an amazing revenue generator for the economic structure of Rome and Floyd County, Heida said.
“Mobile, Ala. has a large tennis center, not as large as the one we’re talking about, and it generates about $50 million in annual revenue,” Heida said.
Rome already hosts many tennis tournaments, and a central location would increase the quantity and scale of tournaments, bringing further revenue to our community, Clay Hightower, Berry head men’s and women’s tennis coach, said.
“We’re doing well already, but if we had a large complex where all the matches could happen at one place, it would put Rome in the mix to host big tournaments,” Hightower said.
Berry College President Stephen R. Briggs, who is supportive of SPLOST, said the tennis center would support current business by bringing more people to Rome.
“We create our own tourist attractions,” he said.
“We want to be good partners and good collaborators with Rome and the Floyd County area because it’s Berry’s home. This is a way we could contribute,” Heida said.
Though Berry would not make a profit from the tennis courts, this project would still serve the interests of Berry, Briggs said.
“One of the advantages to Berry is that it would give another fabulous place that is very close by for student work opportunities,” Heida said.
Apart from work opportunities, construction of this facility would give Berry the chance to host various tournaments.
“It would allow Berry in the future to host regional tournaments, if not get into the mix of hosting Division III nationals because it’s going to be a great facility,” Hightower said.
Despite the promise of new courts, Hightower said the majority of tennis practices and matches would be played on campus.
“[The campus courts] are very convenient. It’s easy to walk over from the dorms and practice, play our matches here so we can have some fans come, watch a bid on their way to the intramural fields,” Hightower said. “We definitely want to have the campus courts to still be our main venue. I can see us playing one match a year or a conference match and playing at the new facilities, however.”
Though the Berry tennis program would primarily use the campus courts, a new facility would further help Berry by aiding in the recruitment process, Hightower said.
Despite the benefits for the Rome community and Berry, local attitudes about this specific use of SPLOST funding may conflict with other possible allocation opportunities, including improvements to Floyd’s infrastructure and a new animal control shelter, Hightower said.
SPLOST is a financing method for funding projects, such as the building of parks, schools and other public facilities, through an optional one percent sales tax. This particular SPLOST vote has generated some controversy in the Rome and Floyd County community.
“The enthusiasm has died down a bit around town,” Hightower said. “There is definitely a portion of the community that doesn’t play tennis, so they view the whole package for the tennis players in the area only. They’ll vote no just for that.”