Concept Paper

Troy Park 25-Court Regional Tennis Centre

A Proposal by the
Howard County Tennis Patrons, Inc.

The Troy Park Tennis Center will be a park and recreation agency model for the entire state of Maryland for grassroots community tennis development, for youth tennis development, for training recreational tennis coaches and to showcase the sport of tennis.

Our vision is to enter into a public-private partnership with the Howard County government to develop and sustain a premier USTA-quality tennis center for the benefit of all residents of Howard and the surrounding counties. A public-private partnership is defined as a contractual agreement to achieve a public purpose by the sharing of resources, risks, responsibilities, and rewards.

The Howard County Tennis Patrons, Inc. proposes to lease, design-build, and operate the facility under the agreement. The Tennis Patrons would partially fund the design and construction of the facility and subsequently operate and maintain the tennis center. Howard County would lease the land for this purpose. Matching funds would be sought through state and local government bonds, public grants, and private funds.

Proposed Facility

• 8 indoor hard surface tennis courts
• 16 outdoor hard and soft surface tennis courts, lighted
• 1 “championship” hard surface court
• 7,500 sq. ft. headquarters for the USTA state office, including offices; conference room; in-house storage for tennis balls, racquets, and other equipment
• Facility clubhouse, including administrative office(s); reception and court viewing area; lounge with food/beverages; player locker rooms; tennis shop; public restrooms; parking.

Proposed Location and Service area

• Howard County-owned land known as Troy Park, bounded on the east by Rte. 1, on the west by I-95, on the south by Rte 100. Parkland is approximately 100 acres. The tennis facility would be limited to approximately 20 acres.
• Howard County, southern Baltimore County, city of Baltimore, western Anne Arundel County, northern Prince George’s County, eastern Carroll County, Montgomery County.

Facility Description

• The wheelchair accessible 25-court facility will consist of 8 indoor and 16 outdoor courts and a championship court for featured matches. The facility will meet all USTA court requirements to host professional tennis and USTA tennis events. The complex will anchor additional recreational facilities the County envisions at Troy Park to meet the needs of the Rte. 1 Corridor community and eastern Howard County residents.

For more information, contact HCTP at 410 730-4087

Howard Community College

Talked with Joan Millane of Millane Partners, who has been engaged by Howard Community College (HCC)to create an RFP for creating a public/private partnership to build a tennis facility. She said the College was envisioning having a private partner building a small 4-6 court indoor facility in exchange for College land. I suggested there might be an advantage to partnering with HCTP and sharing a facility offsite at Troy Park. She said she would broaden the language of the RFP to allow for an off-site facility, but the College does not have the budget to provide any funds to such a project. She expressed concern that a small facility on campus might not be financially viable, particularly if Troy Park were built. In any event, she will send us a copy of the RFP to which to respond. I believe having HCC as a partner would increase our standing with sponsors.

Art Tollick

'Management Structure and Philosophy'

I have made an addition to 'Docs to Review' entitled 'Management Structure and Philosophy'. It address the management strategy to achieve and maintain our Vision Statement. Although controversial we need the right management structure to give substance and credibility to our vision. We need to iterate and hone this to get it right.