The Thunder Bay Community Tennis Centre Facility is getting closer to its construction goal this fall and has received $205,000 from the Thunder Bay Community Economic Development Commission (CEDC) and Tourism Thunder Bay.
Thunder Bay CEDC chief executive officer Jamie Taylor said the facility will offer access to racquet sports such as tennis and pickleball.
“Our strategic action plan focuses on supporting year-round visitor experiences and sports tourism,” she said.
Paul Pepe, manager of Tourism Thunder Bay added, “Sport tourism event attraction is a major contributor to Thunder Bay’s tourism economy.”
He said the indoor racquet facility will help support the growth of regional and provincial racquet sporting events and enhance the community’s sport tourism infrastructure.
The project is driven through a partnership between the Thunder Bay Community Tennis Centre and the Provincial Tennis Association. The last time the community had access to indoor tennis courts was at the Confederation College Fitness Centre in 2016. Tennis Centre president Jason Everett said the new facility aims to host tournaments and attract players to the city.
“We hope to make tennis and pickleball year-round sports,” Everett said. “One of the big things is we’re going to develop some high-end juniors who can train and practice 12 months a year. We’re going to try to develop some advanced players who can represent our area at a high level.”
He added that when people come to Thunder Bay for tennis tournaments, they will spend money in hotels, stores and restaurants year-round.
The facility will feature up to six indoor courts, nine outdoor courts, seating for spectators and will be comparable to the National Tennis Centre in Toronto.
With a price tag of $4.2 million, project manager Pasi Pinta says there are a lot of moving parts to get to the finish line this fall.
Pinta broke down the funding envelope beginning with the City of Thunder Bay committing to $1.5 million in 2019 for initial seed funding. The Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation committed $1 million, the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario (FedNor) committed $500,000, the Rogers National Tennis Centre invested $200,000 and numerous donations were received from local businesses, corporations and individuals.
“We were about $500,000 short of full funding and we took out a loan,” said Pinta. “The CEDC’s $205,000 contribution will reduce that loan . . . and we will still have some odds-and-ends costs as we get construction going and completed.”
He added that they want to have the facility “ready to go by the time the snow falls.”
Pinta said they have completed and submitted the plans for the centre to the City to apply for a building permit and are putting the final touches on a secondary structure with their engineer before submitting that for a building permit.
He said it’s a matter of finishing the building application process and obtaining signed funding agreements from the City as well as the schedule of when (the City) will release their funding.
“We also need to have our insurance policies in place and we’re expecting that imminently. Once all of that is in place, and the City has indicated that they’re willing to let us get started, we’ll be moving dirt and digging the foundation,” he said.
