A few months ago Portfolio Aspen Properties joined a great group of tennis enthusiasts in the Roaring Fork Valley who formed Advantage Indoor Tennis (Ad In, a 501c3) to fund raise approximately $1.1M to construct a permanent indoor structure over 4 courts at Crown Mountain Public Park (El Jebel). Once Ad In raises the funds, they will turn them over to Crown Mountain Park District, who will construct the building, maintain and run the public facility. Ad In already raised over $500,000 but they need help to get to the finish line so Portfolio stepped up to get them there by hosting a Wimbledon themed fundraiser on June 30, 2015 at the St. Regis Hotel in Aspen. The Portfolio Aspen Properties Tennis Fundraiser was a great success and everyone enjoyed Pimms Cup, watching Wimbledon’s greatest matches and taking interactive photos from a Wimbledon set.
Portfolio decided to get involved with this effort because we believe having year-round tennis programming and tournaments at public courts in the Valley is important for the youth and will also benefit adults. For instance, this building will allow Basalt and Carbondale high schools to have tennis teams, which they are unable to do without covered courts. This effort is not political (unlike prior efforts in Aspen and Snowmass) and has support from Basalt, Carbondale, Glenwood Springs, Eagle County, The Roaring Fork School District and the Buddy Program to name just a few.
Larry Ellison is also betting his chips on tennis. Ellison purchased Indian Wells 10 years ago and continues to invest in improvements to the tournament each year, while also in talks to purchase the Tennis Channel. Earlier this summer Oracle became the lead sponsor for the Intercollegiate Tennis Association and has put is money behind a couple of major college tournaments in hopes of eventually creating a new American circuit. Read more about Ellison’s vision to bring back American tennis by clicking here.
Here are some quick FAQs about our Indoor Tennis Event effort here in the Aspen area:
The courts will be open 7 days a week from 8am-10pm. Fees will be $24 per court in the winter and $20 per reserved court in the summer.
The facility will be used for adult play and tournaments, but more importantly will serve the youth of the Valley with after school programs, USTA Youth Tennis programs and allow the mid valley high schools to have tennis teams.
There are no taxpayer dollars required and no additional taxes are needed to achieve our goal.
Eagle County approved the additional tennis use at the park following a traffic study, and a preliminary building permit is being obtained.
This will be the only covered public courts available for year round play from Grand Junction to Aspen to Edwards.
For additional information visit the Advantage Indoor Tennis website at www.AdvantageIndoorTennis.org.