Ten of the 13 blue Australian Open-style tennis courts in Tamworth have been handed to the North West Tennis Academy for coaching purposes as the arena gets prepared to open for the public later this year.
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Tamworth Regional Council (TRC) mayor Russell Webb was at the Treloar Park Tennis Centre on Thursday, January 18, to make the official announcement as the $3.7 million upgrade gets finalised.
"They're not open to the community yet. They won't be open until the clubhouse is finished and that is up and going," Cr Webb said.
"But at least we've got these coaching clinics going and tennis in Tamworth is well and truly alive again."
Deputy CEO of Wests Entertainment, James Cooper, was also at the site on the corner of Roderick and Napier streets with Academy director Jarrod Campbell, who accepted the handover.
"It's tough for us to sit on a firm date but we're looking towards the early part of, or into April as a target," Mr Cooper said of when the clubhouse could be fully operational and thus the tennis courts open to the public.
"But it's a facility that's going to be about community, it's going to be about children, and all good things that come from combining those things."
Mr Campbell said "it's been a really tough slog for the Academy and our kids" during the upgrade.
"We've only been able to service our players that are at tournament level at the moment, all of our grassroots and beginner tennis programs have been out for a period of about 18 months."
The new courts are trademarked US-Open Blue, which is meant to enable players to see the yellow tennis balls more clearly.
