Murfreesboro advisory committee pushes facilities, expansion and pickleball options as part of ATC master plan

At a Feb. 19 meeting at the Adams Tennis Complex, Parks staff told the Adams Tennis Complex Commission that facilities and infrastructure should drive the next five- and ten-year master plan after a stakeholder exercise showed strong support for capital improvements and program growth. "We've developed exercises ... the direct information that both the qualitative and the quantitative results will go into the actual master plan itself," Speaker 2, Parks staff, said as commission members completed a short survey and posted priorities on boards.

The session opened with a staff presentation of February participation figures, which staff said included 4,119 indoor tennis participants and 1,109 spectators for 5,128 indoor visits; across all department areas the total was 7,261 visits for the month. Speaker 6, operations staff, said junior program signups totaled 640 (not including drop-ins) and that clinics and popular programs such as the weekday/weekend "Bump" sessions consistently draw large groups. "Our clinics are doing very well...the total number for our junior players for the month of February was 640," Speaker 6 said.

Commissioners and staff used a board exercise to rank priorities. Staff summarized the results and said "facilities and infrastructure" emerged as the primary focus, with programs and customer experience also rated highly. Commissioners detailed maintenance and access issues — including court cracks and lead times for repairs — and discussed strategies to increase membership value, such as expanded mixers, block-time management and targeted programs. "Block time is very important to us...it drives the bulk of our membership," Speaker 2 said.

Speakers debated where new capacity should go. Some commissioners encouraged adding more courts at the complex and improving ingress and egress and parking; others recommended creating satellite sites or analyzing where players live to locate new courts near demand. Speakers also raised pickleball as a fast-growing need, noting current courts are scattered across the city: "Pickleball, to me, more than tennis ... creates the community," Speaker 8 said, urging consideration of a dedicated complex similar to the tennis layout.

Staff outlined expansion feasibility: the existing building was designed to allow walls to be removed to add an eight-court expansion on one end and potentially another on the opposite side. Staff also said a capital-budgeted community area (restrooms, food-truck space and a bandstand) is planned near the ball-field side to better support tournaments. On safety, Speaker 2 said the Murfreesboro Police Department and IT are coordinating to install higher-quality cameras at prioritized locations in the park system.

The commission requested staff incorporate the exercise results into the master plan and present a summary to the full Parks & Recreation division and City Council as the formal next step. Staff said they will gather the boards, survey results and discussion notes and return with a draft to the commission before sending the plan for council review. The meeting closed after a brief events recap and congratulations to staff for recent tournaments.

Next steps: staff will compile the stakeholder boards and survey feedback into a report for the commission and municipal review; no binding funding decisions were made at this meeting.