In the late ’70s, the Columbia Tennis Center was built atop Wheeler Hill, 14 hard–surface courts and a pro shop. The pro shop has never been renovated or updated in any way with the recent exception of two window air–conditioning units cut into the walls. Nothing rates as ADA accommodating. LEED? No.

The courts need to be rebuilt from the bottom of their underlayment up to the top surface. The fences are leaning while they rust. The lights are poorly placed from the beginning, and they don’t illuminate very well. Never did.

In other words, the restoration of the Columbia Tennis Center is a complete redo, not an update.

The tennis players on the courts appear mostly middle–aged, sometimes thirtyish. Mid–morning is the best time to play because most of the center’s market is at work. In season, evenings are dominated by team or league tennis. All the courts are taken by adults. The only kids around are watching.

There are those who argue for hard courts so children from A. C. Moore Elementary and Hand Middle School could play at Wheeler Hill without a problem; however, after more than 20 years at the Columbia Tennis Center, this writer has never seen any child who claimed to come from A. C. Moore or Hand Middle: not once.

A bond passed through city council in 2004 to fund the restoration of the Columbia Tennis Center. Payments on the bond were to come from hospitality taxes, money supposedly used to attract visitors to Columbia’s restaurants.

With its 14 existing courts and not much room for expansion, the Columbia Tennis Center has been seen as a bit small for big tournaments. A

larger facility was designed for Southeast Park on Garners Ferry Road. To start, half the courts were built—12 hard and four clay—and Southeast became something of a park for just about everybody, not just tennis players. With the land purchase, expenses at Southeast approached $6 million while nothing was spent on the Columbia Tennis Center, even though the bond money began its mission as funding for the Columbia Tennis Center on Wheeler Hill.

left in the 2004 bond money to restore the Columbia Tennis Center. Meanwhile, an argument in favor of clay courts has been made in justification for spending hospitality taxes. Leaving the pro shop where it is for expansion and taking out some of the parking, the Columbia Tennis Center has room for 17 courts. If they were all clay, Columbia could have just about the nicest downtown clay court complex in this part of the country and openly compete for clay court tournaments, all year long.

A thorough study of state and regional clay court tennis tournaments by the Columbia Regional Sports Council reveals 16 major events, all open to relocate.

The hard court tournaments will go to Lexington, where they have 21 hard courts and a 4,600–sq.–ft. pro shop, or to Cayce, where they are building 30 hard courts and a 15,000–sq.–ft. pro shop and fitness center. Even Sumter has 24 hard courts in one impressive complex.

City officials, both professional staff and elected, can’t get too excited about the real possibility Columbia should distinguish itself with the nicest downtown clay court complex in the South. It’s easier to repeat what the city did in the late ’70s.

Clay courts cost about 20 percent more to build and more than that to maintain when compared with hard courts. Fine. Let the players pay.