Friday, July 22, 2005

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First floor of tennis center flooded out

Drainage system investigated, roof leaks under repair

By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@TheCitizenNews.com

Employees at the Peachtree City Tennis Center have been unable to move back into their administrative offices on the first level of the building because of flooding damage from the recent rain storms, officials said.

The second floor of the building wasn’t immune to problems, either, after roof leaks also led to water damage. The pro shop, which had been closed for more than four days, has been reopened and Right On Thyme restaurant is still on schedule to move in on time, noted Tourism Association Chairman Murray Weed at Wednesday’s association meeting.

Tennis center staff was making do by using the much smaller visitor’s center, which is located on what is commonly referred to as “the hut.” The flooding also hampered classes offered at the tennis center by Clayton State and College University, which had to find an alternate location temporarily.

Necessary repairs to the roofs on the three buildings are almost totally complete, noted Tennis Center Manager David Gary. Surveyors have visited the property and are reviewing documents about the center’s drainage system in an effort to locate the source of the problem, said City Manger Bernie McMullen, who is also a member of the association.

Weed noted that he has spoken with City Council members about the damage and they expressed support for the association on the matter.

“We obviously do not have money in our budget to make storm sewer infrastructure changes to the tennis center,” Weed said. He added that while the tennis center will not likely make a profit in this budget cycle, the association should still make a small profit or break even as a whole.

McMullen noted that the flooding damage might need to be discussed in executive (closed) session due to the pending lawsuit from Group VI and Foley Design Associates, which designed and built the tennis center building. Group VI and Foley Design Associates have sued the association over a combined $416,628 in unpaid bills from the latest expansion of the tennis center.

The unpaid bills were actually accrued when the tennis center was under the direction of the Development Authority of Peachtree City, which also has been named a litigant in the suit along with the city itself, which owns the building.

Mayor Steve Brown said last week that eight inches of water accumulated in the lower level of the tennis center, and he scoffed at previous officials’ claims that the tennis center was a “world class building.”