Former British tennis number one and TV presenter, Andrew Castle, has launched the start of work on a £3.2 million project to build one of Britain’s best tennis facilities in Grantham.
The new tennis facility will be built by Clegg Construction for their client the Grantham Tennis Club.
A Groundbreaking Ceremony was held at the site at Arnoldfield, Gonerby Road in Grantham to launch the project.
Once completed, the development will see a new indoor tennis centre with four indoor acrylic courts, a social lounge, café, gym, changing facilities, treatment rooms, office and indoor and outdoor viewing areas. Externally, there will be four artificial grass courts, four mini red hard courts and five artificial clay courts.
David Knifton, business development manager at Clegg Construction, said: “Here at Clegg Construction we are delighted to be entrusted with the construction of this project which will see the creation of one of the very best tennis centres in the country.
“Work on site will be carried out in two phases which will allow the existing club to remain open while work is completed.
“Once the entire project is finished in March next year, the development will see a new indoor tennis centre with four indoor acrylic courts, a social lounge, café, gym, changing facilities, treatment rooms, office and indoor and outdoor viewing areas. Externally, there will be four artificial grass courts, four mini red hard courts and five artificial clay courts.
“This is a tremendously exciting development to be involved with, enhancing Grantham and the area far beyond with such a fantastic sporting facility.”
Funding for the project has come from a Grantham business and from the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), which has provided £1m for the project in grants and loans.
Andy Mcfeeters, LTA tennis development manager for Lincolnshire & Nottinghamshire, said: “The LTA is committed to getting more people playing tennis more often, and Grantham Tennis Club has a proven track record of being a family-friendly club offering tennis opportunities for players of all ages and abilities.
“This new facility is a result of a great deal of hard work and commitment from many at the club and I am absolutely confident that it will result in massive growth in tennis participation in Grantham and beyond. Tennis is genuinely a game for everyone in Grantham.”
Lianne Tapson, club chairman, added: “In 2009 we were asked by Lincolnshire LTA ‘how brave do we want to be with our development plans’ and the answer was braver than most – four years of planning, adjusting, manoeuvring and negotiating has brought us to the point where we are now able to begin our project in earnest.
“The team at Grantham tennis club would like to thank the Lawn Tennis Association, South Kesteven District Council, Lewis and Hickey and our Design Team at BSA Design, Gleeds, WilliamSaunders, Crouch Perry Wilkes, WSP-safety, local businesses and our club committee for working hard on our behalf to enable this project to become a reality for the benefit of Grantham.
“We are really looking forward to working with Clegg Construction. New partnerships for the venture, which we are also very excited to work with, include Mencap who will be running the café, The Equilibrium (Grantham) gym team, TBS sports which will be providing tennis and gym clothing and kit and Exhale treatment rooms managed by Jette Rasmussen.
Adrian Hollis, director from Lewis and Hickey, said: “We’re really pleased to see all the club’s hard work, perseverance and vision coming to fruition in the design and creation of their tennis club facility, which when complete in spring 2014, will enhance sport provision in Grantham.”
Phase one of the development will see the creation of seven outdoor tennis courts – four artificial grass and three artificial clay.
The second phase will see the new indoor tennis centre built with all its additional facilities and four mini red hard courts. This phase will also add two more artificial clay courts outside.
Work on the scheme will start in June. The total project will be completed and the new tennis club will open in March, 2014.
“Andrew Castle is a friend of Grantham Tennis Club and a Patron of the charity which has been set up to promote tennis in the community. He is certainly no stranger to getting his tennis kit on and playing a few points with our club members and guests,” Lianne said.
