THUNDER BAY — A lease for a new, six-court indoor tennis facility at Chapples Park remains under negotiation nearly a year after city council greenlit the concept, but the group behind the project remains hopeful it will meet its goal of opening by the end of the year.
The Thunder Bay Community Tennis Centre, which has spearheaded the effort to rebuild indoor tennis capacity in the city, is continuing to negotiate with City of Thunder Bay staff over a ground lease for the project, which was approved by council in May 2022.
If the Tennis Centre is successful in a newly announced federal funding application, it could also wind up building a more expensive, more energy-efficient “semi-rigid” design, the group revealed.
Pasi Pinta, project lead for the facility with Thunder Bay Community Tennis Centre, said the centre and the city have been meeting regularly to discuss the land lease and “making good, steady progress.”
Addressing the wait for a green light on the project, he said, “Of course, this can get frustrating at times for everyone involved, but at the same time, I know everyone has faith we will get through it all by continuing to work together.”
Pinta said the group remains optimistic the facility can open in 2023.
“We would love nothing more than to be able to take advantage of the construction season of 2023, and we do have funding agreements and contracts where we start getting a bit tighter on time if we run longer.”
The group tentatively plans for underground services and six new tennis courts to be completed by the summer or fall, he said, with the dome itself anticipated to be raised by the end of October “if everything goes well.”
The centre hopes to wrap engineering work on the project by the end of May, with next steps including submitting a building permit application to the city, inviting bids from construction firms for the job, and site preparation.
City staff were not available for comment on this story.
Local tennis players have been without an indoor venue since the 2018 closure of two covered courts at the former Confederation College fitness centre bubble.
The new facility’s design also includes four indoor pickleball courts. Pinta said the Tennis Centre won’t require pickleball players to be members to use the courts during designated time slots.
The project has been pegged at roughly $3.7 million by the Tennis Centre.
It has received a $1.5-million commitment from the city, along with $1 million through the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation and another $500,000 through FedNor. Tennis Canada also pledged $200,000 through a partnership with Rogers, while the club’s own fundraising efforts have generated around $300,000.
In an interview Friday, Pinta also revealed the centre has applied for additional federal funding through the Green and Inclusive Community Buildings (GICB) program that could allow the group to upgrade building plans, moving from a bubble to a “semi-rigid” structure.
That design would feature a supported fabric covering, rather than using a fan to stay inflated, said Pinta, significant slashing energy requirements and allowing the tennis centre to explore geothermal heating.
However, Pinta said the group isn’t pinning its hopes on that money, noting there’s no hard date for when successful applicants will be announced, after a February application deadline.
“We can’t wait indefinitely for that — other funding will expire, so we want to make sure we’re not stuck with nothing in the end,” he said.
The Tennis Centre has already arranged extensions to planned completion dates for the project, and now intends to finish it in 2023, according to Pinta.
“The more time goes by, the more difficult it is to be playing both sides of it, if you will,” he explained. “We are spending time and money designing for the air-supported structure right now, and the building and its foundations are obviously somewhat different than it would be for a semi-rigid building.”
“We have a little bit of time here where we could pivot and have the wonderful problem of reworking scopes and funding agreements.”
The centre is also continue to raise funds, and intends to follow the indoor tennis centre with a second phase, building a new clubhouse, Pinta said.
The most substantial physical sign of progress for the project so far came earlier this year, when crews relocated the sliding hill north of the tennis centre to another area of Chapples Park to clear the spot for the new indoor courts.
