A town-provisioned year-round indoor tennis facility (4-6 courts) on municipal land in The Blue Mountains, designed to serve the entire South Georgian Bay community through a public-private partnership model.
The official launch of our website and the opening of our community racquets survey.
Our press release was featured in Collingwood Today. Read it here.
Formal communication was submitted to the Community Services Department of the Town of the Blue Mountains, requesting the development of a public year-round racquet facility.
No objections were received by Community Services department at Town of the Blue Mountains. Advised to proceed to a ToTBM Council Deputation. Town Staff also indicated that, in accordance with the Town's own 'Leisure Activities Plan 2021', it is one of their pre-existing objectives to construct an indoor tennis racquet facility.
Our racquets survey was closed following exceptional community response. We received 519 responses between September - Dec 2024. Names and email addresses of those interested are kept on file and updates provided via email in due course. 'Tennis' polled highest out of all the racquet sports listed on the survey.
Deputation undertaken by our group for Town-provisioned indoor facility in west Thornbury, ON.
Staff recommendation that staff continues to work with our group to try to find a suitable location, with a subsequent staff report to be provided end of May, with a list of possible Town-owned locations for a facility of this nature. Councillors voted to approve the recommendation by staff.
A Town Survey regarding potentially placing an indoor facility at 130 King St W, Thornbury (being Town-owned land) was distributed by the ToTBM, open for 3 weeks.
A deputation emphasising the group's objectives and willingness to be flexible on location. Any vacant Town-owned land (which benefits from services) would be potentially compatible.
Explaining how other towns have delivered on public indoor tennis facilities.
Council votes in favour of town staff conducting further exploratory work with our Initiative, the potential locations for the facility being either Tees Please or Tomahawk. Staff are asked to report back to Council on Sept 15, 2025. More details in this article by Collingwood Today.
The delay is attributed to internal issues within the Town. On Sept 26, we were informed as follows by Town Staff that they are awaiting a technical report. The technical report is critical to inform the recommendations of the staff report and it would be inappropriate to bring the staff report forward without it. We are therefore waiting for a further update from Town Staff about the revised timeline and will provide more information as and when it becomes available.
The Blue Mountains Public Facility Project represents a collaborative effort between the Georgian Bay Racquets Initiative and the Town of The Blue Mountains to establish a town-provisioned, publicly accessible year-round indoor tennis facility.
Project Model: Public-private partnership where the Town provides municipal land and outdoor courts, with a third-party operator managing the seasonal dome structure and indoor operations.
Facility Size: 4-6 indoor tennis courts with seasonal dome coverage (approximately 6-8 months per year).
Target Location: Town-owned land in The Blue Mountains (potential sites include Tees Please or Tomahawk areas).
Current Status: Awaiting technical report and subsequent staff recommendations to Council. Timeline delayed due to internal municipal processes.
This project is part of GBRI's dual-pathway approach. We are also simultaneously pursuing the Collingwood Community Club Project to maximize the chances that South Georgian Bay residents will have access to year-round indoor tennis in the near future.