Elgin set for £1.24 million tennis facility with the building of the Moray Indoor Tennis Centre

A NEW million-pound indoor tennis facility is set to be built beside the Moray Sports Centre in Elgin.

The Moray Indoor Tennis Centre will be a four-court facility, which will be managed by the Sports Centre and will cost £1.24 million.

Work on the site is expected to commence by spring next year, with the building expected to take between six and nine months to complete. Specialist tennis court builder Copri will undertake the work.

The project will become the first in Scotland to receive funding from the Transforming Scottish Indoor Tennis fund (TSIT) – which will invest £816,000.

Delivered in partnership by Tennis Scotland, sportscotland and the LTA, the TSIT is the largest capital investment programme in Scottish tennis history. It has been designed to increase the provision of indoor tennis facilities across the nation.

The facility will provide year-round access to tennis, with the hope of increasing grassroots participation in the sport and providing the opportunity for the introduction of full-time coaches and a coach development scheme.

Moray Sports Centre will partner with third sector organisations and the Active Schools Network to provide outreach programmes in local schools.

Bob Cunningham, a trustee with the Moray Sports Foundation, said: “This funding unlocks opportunities which, until now, Moray’s tennis playing community could only dream about.

"For the first time in Moray, tennis will be played all year round.

“Anyone will be able to get a game, for fun, for practice or to compete. There will be tennis for everyone."

Moray's SNP MSP Richard Lochhead added: “I am absolutely delighted that funding has been secured for indoor tennis facilities at Moray Sports Centre.

“Over the last few years I’ve been in regular contact with the sports centre regarding plans for indoor courts and there’s no doubt that this award is of national significance and will put Moray firmly on the tennis map.”