Recreation leaders in Montgomery County are hitting up County Council members for an increasing flow of funding to renovate public tennis courts they say are inadequate for the growing contingent of tennis enthusiasts.
Already, council members have agreed to spend $1.5 million on a renovation project to fix dilapidated indoor courts in Wheaton. But, Montgomery County Tennis Association officials say the scope of the work was underestimated and now it will take an extra $470,000 to do the job right.
It’s an extra allocation MCTA President Frank Hatten said will make the six indoor courts the first fully air-conditioned ones in the county.
“The renovation of Wheaton will bring in new lights, new heating, make it insulated,” he said, calling the bubble of courts there a wreck.
The hope going forward is to keep the improvement work coming with a proposed plan to double the number of public courts in Cabin John as well as to expand tennis to all Montgomery County middle schools.
The MCTA has existed for a decade, but in that short time participation among all ages of athletes has been both dynamic and explosive, Hatten said. And The United States Tennis Association has recognized MCTA as its community tennis association of the year.
MCTA estimates that 7,000 league players registered through the Montgomery County Tennis Association — compared with just 2,500 five years ago. That’s in direct contrast to the public golf industry in Montgomery County, which has stripped the county of $1 million annually for the past several years.
Hatten said county leaders feel there was not a strong enough interest in tennis to support the sport. But that’s changing.
“The court situation is so tight that we’re having to use the tennis center in College Park,” he said.
