More changes, upgrades coming to Cleveland Country Club
Cleveland Country Club has announced plans to invest nearly $2 million in capital improvements to its tennis facility and to create a new aquatic center.
Here's what's in the works:
The J.L. Suttle Tennis Center
The newly named J.L. Suttle Tennis Center, made possible through a donation of $150,000 from Carole and Jack Arey, Sallie and Linton Suttle and Natalie and Vance Suttle, honors the late J.L. Suttle, a Shelby businessman, family man, philanthropist, tennis enthusiast and longtime member of the club.
Scheduled for completion this fall, the center will feature a new tennis amphitheater, LED lighting and new dedicated pickleball courts. J.L.’s Court, which was previously dedicated in Mr. Suttle’s honor, will be upgraded with a new clay surface, LED lighting, fencing and other features.
More: Cleveland Country Club is getting a face lift
Court 2, which was previously dedicated in memory of N.C. Tennis Hall of Fame inductee and longtime former club member, the late A.W. Buck Archer, will receive new LED lighting, clay surfacing, fencing and other upgrades. Those renovations will be made possible with a $25,000 donation from Buck’s daughter, Kay Archer Price and her husband, Kim Price.
The Betsy Martin Hard-Court Facility will also be included in the renovations. Thanks to a donation of more than $25,000 from Mimi and Tom Martin in memory of their daughter, the late Elizabeth “Betsy” Martin, the Cleveland Country Club will apply Sportmaster Acrylic tennis coatings and new Sportmaster color.
Betsy Martin was an avid athlete and a longtime member of the club. She was the president of her senior class at Shelby High School where she also competed as the State Doubles Tennis Champion.
Hard courts remain the surface of choice for many area junior and high school tennis players, and the project will include the installation of two fiberglass practice backboards for each court. Long-term plans for the hard-court facility include a new spectator venue.
Cleveland Country Club Aquatic Center
Slated to be completed in the summer of 2023, the Cleveland Country Club Aquatic Center will include a splash pad and lanes for lap swimming.
Members will have access to poolside food and beverages at shaded tables and lounge chairs.
Demolition of the previous pool has been completed, and design plans for the new aquatic center are nearing completion. A groundbreaking ceremony is in the works for later this summer.
“Our club is currently blessed with a dedicated and loyal membership that has donated more than $3 million dollars over the last three years to restore, reinvent and recapture an idea that was conceived in the ‘roaring twenties’ by a group of Cleveland County visionaries,” said David Teddy, Cleveland Country Club Board president. “Perhaps the most important decision that has been made during my tenure as president is the board’s decision to replace an aged pool complex that was built in the early 1960s with a new resort style aquatic center.”
Still to come
Several changes and improvements have been made at the club over the last four years since members formed a non-profit to purchase and run it.
The transformation is a continuing effort to make the club a success for years to come, said Teddy.
“Once the renovations are complete on the tennis and pool side of the street, Cleveland Country Club, in partnership with our excellent management team at Bobby Jones Links, will be positioned for growth, success and a ‘whole bunch of fun’ for the next 100 years,” he said.
Memberships are available as well as private event space for members and non-members. Contact the club for more information by visiting clevelandcountryclub.net.
This article originally appeared on The Shelby Star: More changes, upgrades coming to Cleveland Country Club
