Here's when you can play tennis on fresh courts at Kenwood Park

Salina is about a month away from having 12 new tennis courts at Kenwood Park.

Hutton Construction is making progress with light towers, concrete work and perimeter fencing, with next big steps being court surfacing and parking lot work.

Located where the old municipal swimming pool and rodeo grounds stood, the new tennis courts are part of a city-commissioned project aiming to enrich the tennis presence in the Salina community.

Liz Bothwell, executive director of Salina Tennis Alliance Inc., said the nonprofit is excited about the facility’s progress.

“It’s nice because as a nonprofit our goal isn’t to make money, but to provide a service to the community,” Bothwell said. “Hopefully through this facility we will be able to take down barriers that have traditionally come with people getting involved in the sport.”

An updated project timeline

Back in 2018, the city had a Parks and Recreation Master Plan created. One of the concepts in the master plan was using the area of the closed city pool and rodeo grounds for a tennis center. Director of Salina Parks and Recreation Jeff Hammond said this is where the idea was born.

After some legwork to further the idea from a concept into a proposal, the Salina City Commission unanimously passed a resolution in March 2021 to partner with Unified School District 305 and Salina Tennis Alliance for the $2.6 million project.

The new tennis facility will include 12 courts with lighting, new parking space and a clubhouse with restrooms, showers and other amenities.

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Construction began in March, with an original timeline of August for completion. Now, the facility is expected to reach substantial completion in the first or second week of November.

Bothwell said Hutton ran into some small supply chain issues toward the beginning phases of construction, but since then, they haven’t had any significant issues.

By partnering with USD 305, the city is hoping the new facility will attract Kansas State High School Activities Association events. Salina South and Salina Central will host tournaments at the facility, and Kansas Wesleyan University has expressed interest in hosting events there.

“We’re very excited about the future of tennis at our facilities,” Hammond said.

Salina has tennis courts in Oakdale Park, Sunset Park and Jerry Ivey Park. After the Kenwood Park courts are built, the courts at Oakdale and Sunset will be replaced. The city has still not decided what they'll be replaced with.

Ownership and operation of the courts at Jerry Ivey have been transferred to USD 305, which plans to renovate and add four more courts at that location. Those courts will be for school use, but also open to the public.

“We had three tennis court facilities in three different parks that were old and needed repair, and were not conducive to tournament play,” Hammond said. “We knew we needed to upgrade our tennis facilities at our three parks, and this partnership is the way the city was accomplishing this.”

Tennis as a pastime

Bothwell said Salina Tennis Alliance is committed to providing tennis recreation opportunities for the public once the new facility at Kenwood Park, which is yet to be named, is complete.

There will be youth and adult programs and clinics at beginner, intermediate and advanced levels of play.

Youth programs are offered for those aged 5-17 years old, and adult programs are for 18 and older.

The facility will also have equipment available for use. Bothwell said this is especially good for families who may have children interested in the sport but are not ready to make an investment in equipment, which can be expensive.

“Another great thing will be the affordability of our programs,” Bothwell said. “People will have the opportunity to participate at $8.75 to $12 per clinic, depending on age level.”

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From mixers and private play, to lessons, the Salina Tennis Alliance is aiming to provide opportunities for people at all levels of play to get involved. For questions or additional information about program offerings, people can email Bothwell at liz@salinatennis.org.

“(Tennis) is not as easy as some people make it look, especially as you get older,” Bothwell said. “But it’s so fun, and if you played another sport as a kid, it comes a little easier.”

This article originally appeared on Salina Journal: Kenwood Park tennis courts in Salina nearly complete