City of Lawrence

Memorandum

City of Lawrence

Parks & Recreation Department

DATE: May 21, 2013

TO: Dave Corliss, City Manager,

Cynthia Wagner, Assistant City Manager

Diane Stoddard, Assistant City Manager

Ernie Shaw, Interim Director Parks & Recreation

FROM: Mark Hecker, Assistant Director Parks & Recreation

RE: Lighted Tennis Facilities

The following chart delineates current options to provide an additional lighted tennis facility for the community.

Staff Recommendation:

The Rock Chalk Park site offers the most advantages.

	Lawrence High	Lawrence High	Rock Chalk Park	Free State HS
Project Description	Install a Permanent lighting system on 8 existing court	Install a Temporary lighting system on 8 existing courts for 2013 season	Construct 8 new tennis courts with lights	Resurface 5 existing courts, build 3 new courts, light all 8 courts
Current Number of Courts	8	8	0	5
Proposed Number of Courts	8	8	8	8
Current Court Condition	Good (Some minor surface cracking )	Good (Some minor surface cracking )		Poor (5 existing courts need resurfaced)
Parking for events	152 spaces (not enough for events)	152 spaces (not enough for events)	Over 1400 spaces planned	Available in school parking lot
Public restroom facilities	Currently not available but planned in the future	Currently not available but planned in the future	Available in new Recreation Center	Available in school facility at north end of maintenance building
Current court lighting	None	None	None	None
Considerations that factor in to the installation of court lighting	· Court proximity of residential housing · Neighborhood is on record as opposing lighting project · Drainage system built under courts restricts pole placement · Installation of new lights would require cutting existing court surface to install conduit and east poles · Meeting City Code for lighting foot-candles at the property line can be accomplished but mitigation of light impact may reduce the times and months of the year to play tennis. · Glare from lights will impact neighborhood	· Court proximity of residential housing · Neighborhood is on record as opposing lighting project · Drainage system built under courts restricts pole placement · Installation of new lights would require cutting existing court surface to install conduit and east poles · Meeting City Code for lighting foot-candles at the property line can be accomplished but mitigation of light impact may reduce the times and months of the year to play tennis. · Glare from lights will impact neighborhood · Lighting will be installed and then removed when rental period is complete · Lights would not be owned by the City and could not be used on other sites.	· Currently minimal residential housing near this site · Will be part of a larger sports complex · Constructed by spring of 2014 · The tennis facility was included in the total negotiated cost of the new recreation facility.	· Residential housing not as close to courts so light impact not as great to neighborhood compared to LHS site. · Minimal opposition from the adjacent neighborhood to lighting has been received.
Considerations that factor in to new court construction	None	None	City in complete control	New courts would occupy a portion of the current soccer practice field
City / USD Cooperation	Will require an agreement for future maintenance and scheduling of the USD owned facility	Will require an agreement for future maintenance and scheduling of the USD owned facility	City would control maintenance and scheduling.	Will require an agreement for future maintenance and scheduling of the USD owned facility
Estimated Project Cost	$238,000 estimated time needed to bid and install new lights 6 months	$175,000-$200,000 for 6-month equipment rental. Plus $25,000 - $30,000 for electrical connections	Estimated cost of courts with lights $640,000 Constructed as part of the Recreation Center Project	$606,932

Note:

If either of the high school sites are selected the City and the School District would need to enter into a cooperative agreement to provide for the long-term maintenance and scheduling of the facility. The Rock Chalk site would be maintained and scheduled by the City.

Additional Tennis Court Information:

Total Number of Pubic Courts Available in Lawrence:

City Facilities

8 courts (6 with lights) Holcom; Lyons; Veterans; Dad Perry; Prairie Park

8 proposed courts (8 with lights) at the Rock Chalk Park site

Of the 16 city owned courts, 14 will have good to excellent lightning and all 16 good to excellent playing surfaces.

USD 497 Facilities

21 courts (0 with lights) LHS 8, FSHS 5, Liberty Middle 2, West 2, South 2, Southwest 2

Courts available to the public when not in use by the district. Surfaces vary but overall good for recreational play.

Haskell University

2 courts (0 with lights)

Courts available to the public when not in use by the university. Surface is good for recreational play.

Kansas University –

8 courts (8 with lights) Near Robinson Hall.

Courts available to the public when not in use by the university. Lights and surface are adequate for recreational play.

However, courts may be removed in the future to make room for a new university building.

Jayhawk Tennis Facility on Clinton Parkway

6 courts outdoors (0 with lights)

5 courts indoors (5 with lights)

This is semi-private facility that KU uses for their tennis team, but is available to the public to join or reserve courts for a fee.

Parks and Recreation has an agreement with Jayhawk Tennis for leagues and classes that use instructors and space at the facility.

Total number of pubic courts available in Lawrence: 58

(50 current, plus 8 proposed at Rock Chalk Park)

Total number of lighted pubic courts available in Lawrence: 27

(19 current– plus 8 proposed at Rock Chalk Park)

How does Lawrence compare to other area?

According to the US Tennis Association - Studies indicate that facilities should be planned based on the number of players within 6 miles or 15-20 minutes of driving time from the site – consider the population in this radius. A good “rule of thumb” is that most markets can support one court for every 10,000 people. http://www.usta.com/Facilities/facilities_frequently_asked_questions/. The Lawrence population is about 90,000, so we should have a minimum of 9 courts. To get all Lawrence residence with-in 6 miles of a public tennis court facility, we would need to add courts to the west side of town (Rock Chalk Park).