For many Kelowna, B.C. residents, the game of tennis is a big hit.
“I love it,” said Kelowna resident Deb McEachern. “It’s a great game.”
However, tennis enthusiasts will have to wait longer for the ability to play the sport year-round at what will be the first city-owned indoor facility announced earlier in the year.
It was June when a groundbreaking ceremony took place at the Mission Sports Fields, the site of a future indoor and outdoor facility.
The Rogers Tennis Dome, which will provide five tennis courts, was supposed to open this November.
The project, however, has now been pushed back.
“I was fully looking forward to it opening up in November,” said Doug Nicholas, sport and event services manager with the City of Kelowna. “So, unfortunately, it didn’t happen.”
Nicholas said the delays involve soil remediation and weather conditions as well as coordinating some of the park planning with its partner, Tennis Clubs of Canada (TCC).
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TCC did not respond to Global’s request for information by publication time.
While the outdoor courts are expected to be ready by spring, the dome itself will not be installed next month as planned, but rather next fall.
News of the dome’s delay comes amid the tennis community losing six public tennis courts at the Parkinson Recreation Centre to accommodate the construction of a new facility that will replace the aging one.
“There will be some short-term pain here as we try to get the courts back,’ Nicholas said. “I think long term, when we look at it, it’s going to benefit our community.”
Nicholas added that over the next two years, tennis court inventory will include the addition of five courts at the Mission Recreation Park, three at the Glenmore Recreation Park and four at the new facility that will replace the Parkinson Rec Centre.
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