Friday, June 17, 2005

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Deal close for new restaurant at tennis center

By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@TheCitizenNews.com

By this time next week, it’s likely that another restaurant will be on its way to the Peachtree City Tennis Center.

Three proposals are in play, including Right On Thyme, which would relocate from Fayetteville, and Martini’s, which would operate the “40-Love Grill” restaurant in addition to its current facility in the Westpark retail complex in Peachtree City.

The third proposal would be a start-up franchise of Colarusso’s Pizza, a chain with Pennsylvania-style pizza, that would be owned by a Peachtree City resident.

David Gary, manager of the tennis center, said he was pleased that all of the applicants wanted to hit the ground running and open as soon as possible.

“Everybody has indicated they wanted to move in yesterday,” Gary said.

The Peachtree City Tourism Association will likely hold a special called meeting Thursday to vote on which proposal to select for the restaurant space.

At Wednesday’s meeting of the association, the group voted to waive a $500 fee for the National Black Golf Hall of Fame Pro-Am tournament, which will be hosted at the Planterra Ridge golf course. The board also agreed to waive the cleanup fee for two events at the amphitheater that will be sponsored by the recreation department: the Battle of the Bands and a September 11 remembrance program.

Association chairman Murray Weed also noted that with the departure of Executive Director Linda McCarthy, he and board member Bernie McMullen started having weekly staff meetings on Tuesday, and he hoped to continue that arrangement since it was working well.

No one on the board expressed any opposition to continuing that process.

Also, Amphitheater Manager Randy Angrisano updated the association on negotiations with the Coca-Cola Company to come on board as a sponsor of events at the amphitheater and tennis center. If ultimately approved by Coke officials, the sponsorship would be for $5,000 and last through June 30 of next year. It would also include some amount of consideration in the form of equipment or product from Coke, Angrisano added.