Windward has a vision for tennis center
To the editor:
I would like to respond to the article concerning the Sandy Springs Tennis Center in your last edition (“Tennis center contract is up in the air,” Nov. 27-Dec. 10, Page 1).
The bid unanimously recommended to the city manager was submitted by Windward Tennis Management, not Windward Tennis Academy. Cannon Campbell and I own and operate Windward Tennis Management. We are also two of the partners in the 18-acre semi-private Windward Lake Club, of which Windward Tennis Academy is just one aspect of our award-winning program.
Our academy has gained recognition throughout the Southeast and the nation, but we cannot only be defined by that success. We operate one of the largest instructional programs in the U.S, employ 9-10 full-time tennis professionals and our facility was named USTA National Large Facility of the Year in 2006. All of our instruction is open to the public.
We host one to two ALTA city finals each season, as well as corporate outings and charity fund raisers. We are business partners with two elementary schools and one middle school in Alpharetta. We field 43 ALTA and 29 USTA teams, including juniors, men’s, women’s, seniors and mixed teams. We have owned and managed WLC’s 20 lighted hard courts, four swimming pools and a 100-boat slip marina since 1997.
I earned the designation USPTA Master Professional in 1984 and am a former world-class tennis player with 40 years of tennis programming experience.
As a 12-year resident of Sandy Springs, I strongly supported our efforts to become a city. I was encouraged by the public/private partnership the city chose to establish with CH2M Hill. We would have chosen not to be involved in the bid process if the center was still under the control of Fulton County.
The RFP (request for proposal) required a minimum of three years experience at a public tennis center. My partner and I met these requirements and had endorsements from our former employers. Had we not met these requirements we would not have submitted a bid. The city also required a turn-key operation, including cleaning and maintenance, which we currently are doing in-house at our facility. Like the city, we also believe in a transparent operation. We went through the five-month bid and interview process following all the procedures outlined and requested in the RFP. At the conclusion of this process we were unanimously endorsed by the selection committee.
We have a vision for what the Sandy Springs Tennis Center can be. There are a number of award-winning city programs across the country which can be models for our city. I hope as the City Council and our residents get to know who we are, they will realize why we were unanimously chosen.
Dave Power, general manager
Windward Tennis Management
More thought is needed on City Walk Towers
To the editor:
Having lived in Sandy Springs for 26 years, and driving through this intersection regularly, when I read about the proposed City Walk Towers development (“City Walk Towers decision tabled,” Nov. 27-Dec. 10, Page 3), I was incredulous. What in the world can the Sandy Springs Planning Commission be thinking? This is such a dense area as it is, and the intersection handles an enormous amount of traffic every day because it also is used as an east-west connector from the Perimeter Mall area to Cobb County. Neither Roswell Road nor Hammond Drive can handle the traffic as it is. Greedy developers and government alike caused overgrowth that has nearly ruined Atlanta. Let’s not ruin Sandy Springs with the same kind of unbridled and foolish development.
Anita P. Albert