Friday, September 29, 2000
Friday, September 29, 2000 |
| State tennis organization
considers moving to PTC
By JOHN MUNFORD The Georgia Tennis Association has indicated it will consider moving its offices to Peachtree City. GTA officials met with the Peachtree City Development Authority Monday night. Manuel Guillen, a member of GTA's executive committee, said the GTA was interested in exploring a partnership that would locate its offices at the Peachtree City Tennis Center. GTA is a non-profit organization comprised of more than 50,000 members. The staff consists of 14 employees who all currently work on the north side of Atlanta, Guillen said. That would be the one sticking point that would make a move to Peachtree City difficult, he added. The GTA's current office space has become expensive and money would play a major factor in the organization's relocation, Guillen said. Peachtree City is being considered because of the excellent reputation the tennis center has achieved, Guillen noted. "Everybody knows about the Peachtree City Tennis Center," Guillen said. Development Authority member Tate Godfrey said the authority could prepare a proposal, which might include putting the GTA in an office building that is planned for the near future at the tennis center. The GTA would need about 4,000 square feet of office space, possibly less, Guillen said. The GTA would need to decide where it will move at the end of this year so it can leave its current space when the lease is up to avoid the rent increase. "If we invest less in office space, we can put more into programming," Guillen said, noting that a relocation to Peachtree City would bring GTA events here. Virgil Christian, who oversees the operation of the tennis center, said having GTA in Peachtree City would be nice. "It would be a very incredible thing for us," Christian said. "It would be a lot of positive activity." The development authority plans to expand the tennis center in the future with seven new courts and the administrative/office building. The authority also wants to cover some of the courts so they can be used when it rains. The covered courts also could be used by large groups wanting to gather outdoors, said development authority member Jim Fulton.
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