Work underway on new indoor tennis facility slated to open in the new year

Construction crews have broken ground on Liberty University’s new 48,000-square-foot, six-court indoor tennis facility, which is set to open in January 2021. The facility will give the Flames’ men’s and women’s tennis teams the option to hold matches inside when they host the ASUN Championships next April.

The new complex is being built on campus over an area where six courts that are part of the 18 courts in the Cook Tennis Complex.

“Liberty has always had a master plan for an indoor tennis facility,” Liberty’s Vice President of Major Construction Dan Deter said. “The last six outdoor courts that we had were designed in such a way that we could drop a building over top of them.”

Deter said that following an anonymous donation that was specifically to be used for an indoor tennis facility, the $6 million project was approved in the fall. The donation was the largest single gift to the Flames Club in Athletics Department history. He said that extensive research and planning has been poured into this project.

“I personally took a trip down to Clemson to tour their indoor tennis facility,” he said. “They were kind enough to take the time to talk with me and show me around.”

Liberty’s facility will be state of the art, with locker rooms for both the men’s and women’s teams, seating for 100 plus fans, a laundry facility, and a concessions area.

The project broke ground in late April and is on pace to be completed in January 2021. The building’s foundation is set to be completed this month before steel beams begin to go up in July. Deter said that the building should be 90 percent enclosed by Liberty’s Commencement, September 11.

Liberty Men’s Tennis Head Coach Derek Schwandt said that he is thankful for the support that President Jerry Falwell and the rest of Liberty’s leadership has extended toward the school’s tennis teams.

“We are extremely grateful to be a part of this athletic department and school and the way that they are consistently committed to excellence,” Schwandt said.

The new facility will also provide Liberty’s tennis teams with recruitment and scheduling improvements.

“I really couldn’t be more excited about this indoor center,” Schwandt said. “It’s going to be a massive boost to our training environment and it will also help us with scheduling as far as getting some really strong teams to come play here at Liberty. From a recruiting standpoint, it’s a significant advantage as well.”

The new indoor complex sends a message to Liberty’s tennis teams that the school is committed to seeing the teams rise in the collegiate tennis ranks.

“God’s been very good to us,” Schwandt said. “We want to eventually be a top-16 program and compete at the highest level. The strength of this school is the people who are here. Liberty is such a positive environment.”

Before collegiate spring semester sporting seasons were cancelled due to COVID-19, both Liberty’s men’s and women’s teams fed off the school’s positive environment and produced excellence in competition with the men finishing 8-6 while the women finished 7-4.

Senior Chase Burton established a new school record with his 75^thcareer singles victory in the Flames’ 5-2 triumph over the Penn State Nittany Lions on Feb. 21. The win marked Liberty’s first ever over a Big Ten opponent.