LTA takes over Nottingham Tennis Centre and unveils exciting development plans
• 3 MINUTE READ
The LTA and Nottingham City Council have successfully completed an agreement for the LTA to take over the long term lease and management of Nottingham Tennis Centre. The LTA, the national governing body for tennis in Great Britain, have also announced today exciting plans for new investment in the centre.
In December 2019 the City Council announced they needed to find significant financial savings in their budget and were looking for a new leaseholder and operator for the site which has eight indoor courts, 19 outdoor hard courts and 13 grass courts including its show court. The LTA were keen to protect the site as it is one of Britain’s most important tournament and tennis venues. Its size and location make it of particular strategic importance in the delivery of LTA competitions.
Following successful negotiations the LTA will take on a 150 year lease and the operation of the site from 1st May. The centre will remain open to the public and community activity will continue to be a core part of its operations.
As part of the immediate transformation that users will notice, there will be
- Re-surfacing to the outdoor hard courts
- Upgrading of outdoor floodlights
- New fencing installed around outdoor courts
- Upgrade of the existing air bubble covering 3 courts
Then over the next 12 months there will be further development on site including the installation of 4 further indoor courts under a new bubble.
Gary Stewart, LTA Head of Operations said:
“We’re delighted to be taking over the lease and running of the centre. This is a strategically important site for British tennis, and this move will allow us to safeguard its future. Work has already begun on upgrading the existing tennis facilities and there are more plans in the pipeline, as we look to add additional indoor courts over the next 12 months. These changes will help us support the thriving community tennis programme as well as provide infrastructure for events throughout the year. The tennis courts will be amongst the best in the country, but still available for the local community to use.”
Cllr Eunice Campbell-Clark, Portfolio Holder for Leisure, Culture, and Schools said:
“We are really pleased that the work on this handover is now coming to completion and it is very exciting to hear about these first proposed developments which are the beginning of what we are sure will be a great future for the centre and for tennis in the city. We would like to take this opportunity to wish the LTA and Nottingham Tennis Centre all the best and to offer our continued support for their work in future years as we hope our partnership will continue to thrive.”
The centre’s tennis facilities remain open to the public and for use by the local community, including users from the University of Nottingham. All current community tennis courses will continue to run and will be unaffected by the change in operator. The current gym will close to the public on site, however All Active Nottingham gym and fitness members can continue to access any of the other six gyms across the city.
The Rothesay Nottingham Open grass court tournament will run as normal this year and the LTA is arranging for all tennis centre members to receive a 25% discount on tickets for the event.
