Above watch: Some Acadia residents are crying foul over the way the public consultations for a new indoor tennis centre was handled. Mia Sosiak reports
CALGARY – Residents of ten Acadia townhomes are crying foul over the public consultation process for the new Calgary Indoor Tennis Centre.
Construction is beginning on the $8-million facility on 90 Ave. S.E., with support from the city and province, as well as significant private donations.
When it’s completed late in 2015, the facility will add eight indoor and five refurbished outdoor courts, along with lots of seating, a fitness room and a small restaurant.
But residents of a townhouse complex facing the rear wall of the two-story facility say they weren’t adequately consulted.
They missed a flyer and other public notifications.
“We are the only residential unit around – we are the only ones that are being directly affected by this.”
The homeowners say they found out late last year through word of mouth, and scrambled to put together a petition opposing the project.
After gathering 300 names, they learned they had been given a provincial petition form when a municipal one was required and it was too late to start over.
“Oh, we were so frustrated, all that effort,” Hughes said.
The ward’s councillor says consultation and notification about the project stretched over two and a half years, and was adequate.
“I wish there was a way to plug in every single citizen on every single issue, but if a flyer drop and newsletter articles and the media don’t get the word out there, I don’t know what will,” said councillor Gian-Carlo Carra.
The championship-calibre facility – which is open to the public – will add badly-needed year-round courts close to many schools.
Tennis Alberta is promising to work with the townhouse residents to mitigate their concerns around noise and dust during construction.
There will be landscaping at the back of the building to help with the change in their view.
The centre is expected to open in December 2015.
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