North Side Indoor Tennis Facility Approved for NCHS, Youth Tennis
Update: The Metropolitan Development Commission unanimously approved the Panther Athletica development on May 6.
A developer wants to build a 10-court indoor tennis center in Nora across the street from North Central High School that could serve as a facility for a long-running youth tennis program on the north side.
If approved, the Panther Athletica club at 8450 Westfield Blvd. would be the first indoor tennis club primarily dedicated to youth tennis in the Indianapolis metro area, said Bill Bastian, who bought the property for $5.5 million in August 2023 through a holding company, property records
Bastian, a 1976 North Central High School graduate, said the courts will serve Washington Township students in addition to potentially a handful of other schools on the north side. He said Butler University and Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School have shown interest in agreements where tennis team players would receive complimentary club memberships that the schools cover, giving students more access to indoor courts.
For the North Central and north side tennis community, the indoor tennis courts would be a long time coming.
For the past decade, the school and its nonprofit sports organization, the Indianapolis Tennis and Education Foundation, have been strategizing how to build an indoor tennis facility to complement the school’s 26-court outdoor complex.
The nonprofit originally envisioned an indoor facility on the school’s campus that could be used throughout the winter and during inclement weather when the school hosts events like the IHSAA Tennis Team State Championships. However, complications arose with costs and building the complex on public school grounds.
Barabara Wynne, the 1964 founder of the Indianapolis Community Tennis Program, asked Bastian for help locking down a site, he said. The former Five Seasons sports club — now the NeuroHope Rehabilitation Center — was an option at one point but didn’t pan out.
Three years ago, the lot at 8450 Westfield Blvd. went up for sale and Bastian bought the parcel. The former office building had a few leases that needed to run out before Bastian could demolish the property and bring forward plans to build the athletic club.
Bastian, himself a former North Central tennis player, attributes the school’s success on the court to Wynne’s program, which focuses mostly on young players and uses the North Central courts for classes.
“They brought us into their programs when we were in middle school or junior high, and it was a pretty good feeder system,” he said.
Bastian said the ITEF will help support his Panther Athletica facility, estimated to cost between $45 and $50 million, through funds originally raised for an on-campus indoor club.
First, the foundation will ask donors if they can put the funds toward the proposed club, Bastian said. Given the club’s mission to serve the same youth population, he thinks they will likely be successful.
The ITEF did not respond to a request for comment prior to the publication of this article. According to the foundation’s website, they are still accepting donations for the indoor facility.
Bastian estimates the foundation has more than $1 million raised. The rest will be paid for through another round of fundraising, private investors and, if necessary, bank loans.
The Metropolitan Development Commission will hear the case and vote on the rezoning request on May 6 at 1 p.m. City staff planners support the petition besides the request to erect a digital sign, which they will recommend the Commission denies.
If all goes well, Bastian said he hopes to break ground on the facility by July. Construction will take about 18 months.
In addition to the 10 indoor tennis courts, two of which can be converted for pickleball, the facility will include four padel courts, a sport from Spain and Brazil that is growing in popularity in the Indianapolis area, Bastian said. A mix between squash and racquetball, padel is played in a clear box with as many as four players. In January, a fully automated, 24/7 padel facility with two courts opened in Westfield in what the city said is the state’s first padel facility.
For those not on the court, the club’s plans include a sit-down restaurant overlooking the tennis action, a grab-n-go food stand and a daycare, which Bastian said could run in conjunction with the Jordan YMCA next door.
Reporting by Alysa Guffey, Indianapolis Star
This article was originally published by The Indianapolis Star and was provided by USA Today via Reuters Connect
