The American Sports Builders Association (ASBA), the national organization for builders and suppliers of materials for athletic facilities, has announced the winners of its annual awards with GMB winning the outdoor tennis facility of the year honor. Sparta Area Schools’ new high school tennis complex was recognized as the top tennis facility at the 2023 ASBA Technical Meeting in Dallas, TX in December.

Sparta’s new facility consists of eight, post-tensioned concrete outdoor courts at the high school as the final project of the $58.6 million bond passed in 2016. The tennis court project was part of an overall athletics overhaul that improved multiple athletic facilities for Sparta Area Schools and their community. The bond also included a new middle school, improvements to multiple elementary buildings, and upgrades to the football, soccer, and track stadium.

“Sparta Area Schools is very proud of our athletic facilities,” said Joel Stoner, Superintendent at Sparta Public Schools. “The new tennis courts are an amazing addition to our facilities and a highly appealing aesthetic added to the high school campus.”

The courts layout and design encourage movement throughout the complex, connecting the courts along a central walkway. The three-tier built in place seat-walls and portable bleachers create a variety of viewing opportunities for spectators. All courts and viewing sections are ADA accessible for an equitable fan experience. The new entrance, court colors and graphic elements unite the space in reflection of the Sparta district’s identity.

“Creating a centralized facility near the high school ensures that this program is highly visible and acts as a real celebration of athletics,” said Matt Heidloff, landscape architect at GMB. “This is a project the whole community of Sparta can be proud of.”

Sparta’s new facility consists of eight, post-tensioned concrete outdoor courts at the high school as the final project of the $58.6 million bond passed in 2016. The tennis court project was part of an overall athletics overhaul that improved multiple athletic facilities for Sparta Area Schools and their community. The bond also included a new middle school, improvements to multiple elementary buildings, and upgrades to the football, soccer, and track stadium.

“Sparta Area Schools is very proud of our athletic facilities,” said Joel Stoner, Superintendent at Sparta Public Schools. “The new tennis courts are an amazing addition to our facilities and a highly appealing aesthetic added to the high school campus.”

About GMB

Opportunity for all. That’s the world GMB strives to see. Our integrated team of educational planners, architects, engineers, and marketers are just one part of the learning ecosystem that will make that happen. GMB believes education provides transformational opportunities for our communities, industries, and our world. As a learning organization structured for ideation, innovation, and sharing of knowledge, GMB’s hubs of experts in Grand Rapids, Holland and Royal Oak, Michigan; Indianapolis, Indiana; and Greenville, South Carolina serve lifelong learners across the country. GMB believes in helping clients place learners in environments where they can thrive. Learn more at www.gmb.com.

About Sparta Area Schools

Sparta Area Schools provide students with a safe and orderly environment where the emphasis is on mastering the basics. Without much of the peer pressure facing students in more urban schools, Sparta’s students can focus on the job of learning, and on developing their potential. In addition, we are a district big enough to offer a variety of course work or curricular options but small enough to provide abundant opportunity for students to participate in music, athletics, and drama. The District strives to create valuable relationships and innovative learning experiences within our schools and community that empowers all learners to thrive and excel. Learn more at www.spartaschools.org.

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Asphalt or post-tensioned concrete? Here’s what you need to consider.

Among the most common frustrations I hear from court and facility owners who have asphalt courts are cracking and unsafe surfaces. Owners looking for an improvement in court-surface life cycles often look to post-tensioned concrete surfaces as an alternative to the maintenance merry-go-round that asphalt courts can sometimes present.

Asphalt tennis courts have sustained popularity over the past decades due to their ease of construction and readily available materials associated with asphalt’s largest application – roadways and parking lots. Hot mix asphalt, be definition, is a flexible pavement which means that with time cracking of the pavement is inevitable and is part of the management of that type of pavement. While effective management of cracking is feasible and accepted for roadway and parking lot applications, these maintenance issues pose a significantly greater risk to the safety of tennis players, resulting in diminished performance and escalating maintenance costs.

Poor drainage and unstable subgrade soils also cause poor surface conditions on asphalt courts. A well-designed court or facility will include drainage to carry water away from the sub-base and provide stability for the court surface.

The American Sports Builder’s Association (ASBA) recommends sawing joints in asphalt courts. This helps relieve tension in the court surface and encourages cracking to occur on the sawed joints, which are outside the area of play. Sawed joints are a preventative measure, but new cracks can still form within the play surface, which needs to be taken into consideration when resurfacing courts.

Specialty Asphalt Mixes

While the primary application for asphalt pavements are roads and parking lots, be aware that the asphalt “mix” for these applications are not of the same quality needed for tennis courts and other playing surfaces.

Designers and builders have attempted to make adjustments to the typical parking lot asphalt mixes to make them more suitable for tennis court applications, with some success. There are recommended mix design properties provided through ASBA that should be used for construction of an asphalt court. Be aware that these specialty mixes cost more, and the relatively small quantities required result in challenges to both asphalt producers and installers.

This combination of the increased cost of specialty asphalt mixes and challenges of controlling asphalt quality have helped make concrete courts a more feasible option.

Advantages with PT Concrete

Post-tensioned concrete is a rigid, reinforced concrete pavement. Its design eliminates the jointing and cracking that plague asphalt courts. The lifespan of PT concrete can be almost double that of an asphalt court, as well.

Post-tensioned concrete can span unstable soils where asphalt would fail. Regions of the country with expansive soils have been using post-tensioned concrete for decades, with great success in residential and commercial applications.

While post-tensioned concrete courts have an initial cost that is around 20 percent to 30 percent higher than that of asphalt courts, over the course of 25 years, you can anticipate that the inverse would be true. That is, after 25 years, the total cost of installing and maintaining post-tensioned concrete courts would be 20 percent to 30 percent less than for asphalt courts.

Additionally, you should expect to lose access to asphalt courts for up to 79 days over that time to make necessary repairs, compared with just 12 days for post tensioned concrete courts.

Let’s break this down a bit. All hard surface courts – whether they have an asphalt or post-tensioned concrete base – need to be resurfaced about every five years. This process typically takes two to three days, depending on the number of courts and weather conditions. In the case of asphalt courts, however, by the time a court is due to be resurfaced for the first time, it likely has developed initial cracking. These cracks need to be repaired before resurfacing can occur. That adds another two to four days to the process.

Repairing asphalt cracks is charged by the lineal foot. It’s common to see 100 to 200 feet of cracks per court – so if you have eight, 12, or more courts, the costs can really add up.

Another major repair of the asphalt gets underway around year 10 or 11. By this time, significant cracking is expected and will need to be addressed. And by the time 15 years have elapsed, most tennis facility owners are considering a total replacement of the asphalt surface. Replacing the courts will cause a loss of access of around 3 months.

The replacement of courts is, of course, an expensive proposition in and of itself. But the loss of court availability represents a lost opportunity to generate revenue. 

Life Expectancy of PT Concrete Courts

A post-tensioned concrete court, in contrast, has a life expectancy of at least 25 years. Although there are many cases where courts have lasted for 30 or more years with the only maintenance required being resurfacing.

Installation of this type of court does require a unique concrete contractor. While not every contractor has this expertise, they are ubiquitous enough to find in most regions.

There are many benefits of post-tension concrete over asphalt for tennis court applications. Lower total costs over time, and less downtime due to maintenance, smooth, joint-free playing surfaces, and the long projected life cycle of the courts are some of the reasons you might consider post-tensioned concrete when it comes time to replace existing courts or when designing a new facility.

This article was originally published in the Tennis Industry publication, March 2019 and updated in August 2023.

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The American Sports Builders Association (ASBA), the national organization for builders and suppliers of materials for athletic facilities, has announced the winners of its annual awards with GMB Architecture + Engineering (GMB) winning the outdoor tennis facility of the year honor. Cranbrook Schools’ new tennis complex was recognized as the top tennis facility at the 2022 ASBA Technical Meeting on December 5th in Palm Desert, CA.

Cranbrook’s new facility consists of eight, post-tensioned concrete outdoor courts with a 10-foot-high, elevated viewing concourse between the rows of tennis courts, as well as a 450-square-foot team room and restroom facility. The high-end professional courts on Cranbrook’s campus enable student athletes to have a facility to match their level of competition.

“The tennis complex began with the vision to equip Cranbrook with an extraordinary space for student athletes; the impact of that space, both beautiful and functional at the highest level, is palpable – in the way we can develop players, welcome spectators, support competition and celebrate tennis as a life-long sport,” said Aimeclaire Roche, President of Cranbrook Educational Community. “We are so fortunate to have the confidence of the philanthropic leaders who made this complex a reality, and to know the expertise of GMB architects, who planned and scaled the facility to compliment elegantly Cranbrook’s historic campus.”

“At GMB, we share a common goal with our clients to place students and their success at the heart of every project, and this facility is a testament to that goal,” said GMB landscape architect Matt Heidloff. “The landscape of the complex is the primary unifying feature for the programs and spaces throughout, it really unifies the overall fabric of the campus.”

This is the third time that a GMB project has been awarded a project of the year honor by the ASBA. Previous projects recognized for this honor include the William Clay Ford Courts at the University of Michigan (2018) and the VandePoel-Heeringa Stadium Courts at Hope College (2013). GMB has also received 20 distinguished awards from ASBA for other athletic facility projects in the past eleven years.

“It is a spectacular tennis facility that catches your attention from the moment you first see it. It is a first-class facility for our tennis players to train and compete on.,” added Cranbrook Schools Director of Athletics, Keith Levinthal. “As a fan, you can easily keep tabs on all eight courts with excellent sightlines. When it comes to hosting major events, there is no better place.”

Awards are presented each year to facilities built by ASBA members, which best exemplify excellence in sports facility design and construction, as well as an understanding of the technical requirements and current professional standards for athletics facilities. Projects are scored individually based on considerations such as layout and design, site work, drainage, base construction, surface, amenities, innovation, and overall impression.

About GMB

Opportunity for all. That’s the world GMB strives to see. Our integrated team of educational planners, architects and engineers are just one part of the learning ecosystem that will make that happen. GMB believes education provides transformational opportunities for our communities, industries and our world. GMB is evolving our business to foster a culture of continual learning inside and outside our organization.

As a learning organization structured for ideation, innovation, and sharing of knowledge, GMB’s hubs of experts in Grand Rapids, Holland and Royal Oak, Michigan, and Indianapolis, Indiana, design and engineer projects throughout North America.

Whether in a building or a park, in a course or a career, we believe it takes an ecosystem of people, companies, communities and ideas to foster learning opportunities for students of all ages. We believe that by investing in our future and creating learning ecosystems, we can provide opportunity for all. Learn more at www.gmb.com.

About Cranbrook Schools

Cranbrook Schools, located in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, is a comprehensive, college-preparatory learning environment, comprised of Brookside (Pre-K through grade 5), Cranbrook Kingswood Girls Middle School and Boys Middle School (grades 6 through 8) and Cranbrook Kingswood Upper School (grades 9 through 12 with day and boarding programs).

Cranbrook Schools is a part of Cranbrook Educational Community; a 501(c)3 non-profit whose National Historic Landmark campus also includes Cranbrook Academy of Art, Cranbrook Art Museum, Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research, Cranbrook House & Gardens, Cranbrook Institute of Science, and other affiliated cultural and educational programs.

To learn more about Cranbrook Schools, please visit http://schools.cranbrook.edu.

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The American Sports Builders Association (ASBA) grants 2021 Distinguished Facility Awards for three GMB projects

The American Sports Builders Association (ASBA), the national organization for builders and suppliers of materials for athletic facilities, has announced the winners of its annual awards, and GMB took home three 2021 Distinguished Facility Awards.

Awards are presented each year to facilities built by ASBA members, which best exemplify excellence in sports facility design and construction, as well as an understanding of the technical requirements and current professional standards for athletics facilities. Projects are scored individually based on considerations such as layout and design, site work, drainage, base construction, surface, amenities, innovation, and overall impression.

While recognition for our work is certainly an accomplishment for our design team, we believe these awards are more important for our clients whose investments pay off with exceptional facilities that are durable, long lasting, and enable high quality of play, not to mention the beautiful designs drawing attention to their campuses.

At GMB, we share a common goal with our clients to place students and their success at the heart of every project, by creating places that impact future generations in ways that unlock opportunity and provide resilience for our communities.

Clarkston High School Multi-Purpose Field

Clarkston, Michigan

As part of the district’s athletics upgrades, a new multi-purpose field was constructed to support Clarkston’s growing year-round needs and provide a premier facility for both their soccer and lacrosse programs. The project included a new durable and functional turf field, storage facility, lighting, scoreboard, and ADA access to the facility from the parking lot area up the hill. The facility offers the district scheduling flexibility for the entire athletics department and other student activities. Beyond sports, the field is used for marching band practice and student activities as well as community events and youth play. A similar color scheme and logo design as the main turf field creates a cohesive brand for outdoor athletics at the campus.

A highlight of the field’s design is the placement adjacent to an old-growth tree canopy and winding ADA accessible walkway down to the facility from the newly created ADA parking along the roadside. The pathway includes a continuous steel handrail and is wide enough to accommodate emergency and maintenance vehicle access.

Partners and Suppliers: Auch Construction (construction manager), G2 Consulting Group (geotechnical engineer), Sprinturf (turf surface and subbase), Cortis Bros Trucking & Excavating (Earthwork), Fessler & Bowman (concrete), Sportsfield Specialties, Musco, Daktronics, ADS, Keystone Retaining Wall Systems, Michigan Fence (Merchants Metals)

Mason High School Tennis Courts

Mason, Michigan

The Mason High School tennis courts are located within the heart of the Mason community and are the few publicly accessible courts in the greater area, serving thousands of players each year. The existing asphalt tennis courts were in complete disrepair resulting from age, improper drainage strategies, and organic subsoils and required a complete reconstruction. In late 2020, the Mason Public Schools district was notified by the United States Tennis Association that it was awarded their “Facilities Services Grant” and met their criteria for design and construction, largely because of the extensive programming the facility could support.

This project included the demolition and removal of eight existing, failing tennis courts and the associated fencing, replacing them with twelve post-tensioned concrete tennis courts. The redesigned space provides new electrical hookups for ball machines, windscreens, new netting, and better drainage around the tennis courts to ensure longevity of the facility. The landscaping is intentionally simple, utilizing the existing large canopy trees to the south and north to provide the context for the site, and the use of movable planters within the facility soften the area while keep maintenance requirements low.

Partners and Suppliers: Burgess Concrete Construction (general contractor), D.R. Parks & Assoc. (specialty contractor), Racquet Sports (surface), ACO Sport (trench drain), Douglas Sports (posts and nets), Edwards (scoring), Putterman (windscreens), Straight Line Fencing (fencing), Buist Electric (electrical), Rumsey & Sons (sub-contractor)

Delton Kellogg High School Turf Field

Delton, Michigan

Delton Kellogg High School sought to convert a natural grass field to an artificial turf field to enable multipurpose use year-round. The scope of work included full excavation and replacement of subgrade, removal of irrigation, installation of a new drainage system that ties into the site drainage, and the new artificial turf field as well as restoration of the existing football uprights and the addition of new soccer nets.

With an expanded drainage system to ensure limited maintenance and longevity of the field, the district is able to use the turf field throughout the year for gym, marching band practice, strength and conditioning, and even for special events and ceremonies.

Partners and Suppliers: Christman Construction (construction manager), SME (geotechnical engineer), Schmitz Foam Products (shock pad), Shaw Sports Turf (turf), Kwik Goal, Green Turf & Sports (installer), Lounsbarry Excavating, Inc. (stone base and drainage system), Circuit Electric, Inc. (electrical)

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Your tennis facility’s design should enhance the player and fan experiences – and can help grow the sport

Well-designed tennis courts go beyond the playing surface. Thinking about your tennis facility holistically – whether indoor or outdoor – can improve the experience for players, coaches, instructors, and spectators.

In an ongoing effort to increase tennis participation, tennis providers need to both attract new people to the sport and retain the players we have. Well-designed facilities can be a part of this solution. Attracting young people to the sport means catering not only to existing players, but also to their families, who are often spending an extended amount of time at your facility in support of an athlete. Making that experience a positive one through design and amenities should be a part of an outreach strategy for your facility and even the sport at large.

A well-designed facility can help with recruiting to improve enrollment in your school, academy, camp or club. Better design and amenities can attract high-caliber tournaments and other events to your facility, potentially providing an additional source of revenue that offsets upgrade investment.

People enjoy spending time in well-designed spaces. When you are thinking about making improvements to your facility, consider some of these features, which can make a positive impact on your own tennis community.

Signage and Branding

Instill pride in the home team and increase awareness of your organization through signage. The most common applications of a brand are on the back fence line and in between courts on the surface.

Good signage can also help customers find their way around and give a positive impression of your facility to a visitor. If events at your well-branded facility are featured on social or traditional media, the visibility can generate more interest in your facility and even in the sport itself.

Seating and Viewing

Seating needs at your facility will vary based on the level and type of competition. If you have hopes of hosting high-profile tournaments or invitationals, an investment in seating can make your facility more attractive.

Benches and bleacher seats are among the most common seating options selected at the community and secondary school level due to their lower cost. Stadium seats have a cost premium, but they bring the whole facility to a higher level. Fans appreciate the increase in comfort, and the improvements to the spectator experience could result in a boost in morale for the players as well.

While personal preferences vary, most casual spectators find the ideal location for seating to be behind the baseline rather than along the sideline. If seating behind the baseline is not an option, look for other ways to increase the quality of seating along the sidelines.

Fence heights need to be considered in conjunction with seating placement. High fences behind the baseline, when combined with wind screens, further build a case for an elevated seating area. Along the sidelines, 4-foot-high fences have long been the standard, but this height often places the top bar at the spectator sight line. Lowering the side fence to 2.5 to 3 feet is a new trend for courts with sideline viewing.

Regardless of the type of seating, fans and other players can better enjoy spectating from an elevated viewing area. Raised seating set above the fence is worth considering for many reasons: it is also a great location for filming players to utilize as a teaching tool.

Court Layout

How the courts are laid out has an impact on those who are watching. Individual courts have long been popular at private clubs, offering a more intimate playing experience for individual matches.

In team settings, such as a college tennis facility, a center spine layout provides benefits to coaches, players and spectators. Coaches and instructors are better able to keep an eye on progress of drills or matches. Spectators can track multiple matches, and players may benefit from feeling connected to teammates.

Amenities

Players, fans and instructors desire many of the same amenities at a tennis facility: shade, access to water fountains and bathrooms, and tournament information boards are some basic amenities to consider.

Shade can be natural – in the form of trees planted on the site; built-in to the design of the facility – such as an area underneath an elevated viewing platform; a stand-alone structure – like a pavilion; or a temporary solution – like a table umbrella.

Designing shaded spaces for players and coaches requires consideration of its location relative to where play is occurring, and proximity to water and bathrooms. Deciding if the shade is for breaks during a match or a place to relax between games also helps determine how many people it should cover. Fans may be on site for an entire day watching matches, so providing options for shade in or near the seating areas is essential to their enjoyment and comfort.

A basic tournament information board is helpful for players and spectators. It should be in a centralized location that is accessible and readable. If you host large events that draw players from outside the area, consider including information that extends beyond the court, such as information about the community, including local attractions that can enhance the holistic visitor experience.

Facilities that host a high level of competition should consider a scoreboard to add to the fan experience. Often, these facilities also feature a sound system, which has many benefits. If you host large-scale instruction, camps or teams, a sound system can help communicate drills and timing to all players across your courts at the same time. Playing music between drills or matches can motivate players and inject fun for fans as well.

When it comes to picking a location to host tournaments, whether for high schools, universities or even large USTA-sanctioned events, decisions are not made solely based on the quality of the courts themselves. Officials also consider spectator seating and viewing, player and spectator comfort, amenities available and other factors. A well-designed site and facility play into these considerations.

This article was originally published in the Tennis Industry publication, September / October 2019.

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