Tennis dominates discussion at Thunder Bay city council indoor turf meeting

The discussion at a special non-business meeting regarding the proposed indoor turf facility in Thunder Bay, Ont., had more talk of tennis than turf.

• Thunder Bay sports organizations optimistic as proposed turf facility moves forward
• Thunder Bay city council to vote on moving multi-sport turf facility project forward

The meeting, called by Mayor Bill Mauro, was designed to allow members of council to ask administration questions, in advance of the Monday night council meeting, where a decision to go forward with the project will be officially tabled. Mauro hoped the Thursday afternoon meeting would, "expedite" what takes place Monday night.

The Thunder Bay Community Tennis Centre, which will also present to council on Monday, made it clear to council before the meeting started that it wants to be part of the new indoor facility.

"The game has changed a little bit since the college has closed down. What would that add to the solid structure if we put in a tennis facility, say beside it?," said Coun. Brian McKinnon. He, along with Councillors Foulds, Ch'ng, Fraser, You and Hamilton asked a number of questions on incorporating tennis into the centre.

Mayor Mauro said he was concerned that adding in tennis would hamstring the city to the site at Chapples Park, as it is the preferred location for the tennis players. The tennis centre already has courts in the park.

Administration noted the Chapples site is the preferred location for the $30M facility, while other locations at Delaney Arena and near the Canada Games Complex are not as desirable.

Originally, the concept for the indoor turf facility wasonly proposed for Chapples Park.

Administration said on Monday night, council will determine if it wants to move forward with site engineering and other associated works, at a cost of over $3M. If council agrees to move forward, changes to the building itself, can be made, as construction would not start until the fall of 2020.

It would take approximately 18 months to build the proposed pre-fabricated steel building.