Construction of Kossover Tennis Center creates worry, possible loss for county

TOPEKA, Kan. (KSNT) - A quarter of a million dollar project in renovating the Kossover Tennis Center in Topeka, originally thought to bring in more money to Shawnee County in February 2020, has since not begun and is threatening the local economy.

The center has many tournaments on their calendar for the upcoming tennis season, including eight USTA tournaments, according to Topeka Tennis Association President Bob Keeshan.

"It's difficult for us to see how construction can be done and have tournaments co-exist very well," Keeshan said. "Then we have the future of not getting tournaments if we mess up these tournaments."

The delay in construction is due to Shawnee County Parks and Rec waiting to receive a federal grant that would pay for half of the construction, with the project totaling $272,437, according to Director Tim Laurent.

"That would be a significant amount of money to take from our budget in full," Laurent said. "We feel like not only are we saving tax payers money, but we're also extending the amount of money we have to do projects at all locations."

On Monday, Shawnee County Commissioners unanimously made the decision to allow parks and rec to begin negotiating with construction companies to see if the project can be done by the tennis season given the circumstances.

"I'd love to see [that], so that if in fact we do get awarded that grant that we've got a good amount of the work done and we can act fast," said Commissioner Aaron Mays.

The county hopes to receive the grant by the end of January, and if they do the construction will begin as soon as possible. The project will including fixing the center's gates, fencing around the entryway, concrete work and renovating the restrooms.