Come support us - September 19, 7:30 at Howard County Parks and Recreation

HCTP will present its findings to the Howard County Recreation and Parks Advisory Board.

The Board meeting will be held at 7:30 P.M. in Conference Room C of the Howard County Dept. of Recreation & Parks, 7120 Oakland Mills Road, Columbia, MD 21046. Public attendance in support of more courts can have significant impact, so we are asking supporters to attend - and bring your tennis racket. A room packed with racket toting residents at a similar Montgomery County Board meeting sparked the media coverage and momentum that led to the renovation of Wheaton Regional Park’s tennis facilities.

UMBC Letter of Support

Dear Art,

Our Athletics Department is very excited about the possibility of a high level tennis center at the proposed Troy Park site. UMBC is situated in Catonsville and is adjacent to exit 47 on Interstate 95 just one exit north of Route 100 and the site.

UMBC’s Tennis Program is multifaceted with Men’s and Women’s NCAA Division I varsity tennis, a club team, physical education classes, as well as a strong recreation program of students and faculty. With only six outdoor courts on our campus, we have been, for a long time, searching for an appropriate site to expand our offerings.

We’ve had a strong positive relationship with Piney Orchard Ice Hockey rink for our Club Ice Hockey Team and Physical Education Program. We have developed a win-win situation and would be looking to do even more with the sport of tennis at Troy Park.

Our Varsity Program is tops in the America East Conference and needs an indoor “home” as well as outdoor courts to run tournaments/invitationals. Our Club Team is huge and cannot be totally accommodated on campus. “Off Hour” time to offer classes would also be helpful as two courses in physical education are required for graduation.

Of course, we believe this would help the revenue stream necessary for the tennis center. Tournaments would also generate dollars for the local community (i.e., hotels, restaurants). The possibility of our expertise and assistance with camps and clinics also sounds very attractive to us. Finally, many of our more than 2,000 employees are excited about the possibility of expanding their tennis experience. UMBC is a rising star in the University System of Maryland.

On all counts, UMBC Athletics supports the development of the Troy Park Tennis Center. We would expect to make a financial commitment to add to the annual revenue stream of the center. Tennis is a major lifetime sport that deserves high quality facilities. Howard County is the perfect site in the State of Maryland.

Sincerely,

Dr. Charles Brown

Director of Athletics and Physical Education

New HCTP board members

HCTP has expanded and strengthened it's board with three highly successful local executives and tennis affectionados. Joining the current board of Hugh Cole, Lynn Coddington and Art Tollick we are pleased to welcome the following new board members:

Dr. Charles Brown, UMBC Director of Athletics since September 1989 where he Achieved 38 league championships. Charlie Served two terms as president of the Maryland Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics.

Dr. David Burnell is a PhD physicist whose day job is advanced design of integrated circuits for a local company in Columbia. David's passion and avocation is tennis -- he is both an active player and strong advocate of local programs.

Qualifying Developers and Underwriters

With help from Millane Partners HCTP now has a sanctioned road map for the upcoming public/private transaction to build the Troy Park facility. We are now in the process of qualifying suitable developers and experienced underwriters. There are three development companies with which we have had discussions.

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.