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United States Tennis Association donates toward MIU’s indoor courts resurfacing
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
FAIRFIELD – The chief executive officer of the United States Tennis Association-Missouri Valley visited Fairfield on Wednesday, Oct. 29 to present a check toward the newly resurfaced tennis courts at the MIU Rec Center.
Mary Bushman, CEO of the USTA-Missouri Valley region, appeared in the Eyre Tennis Center with a giant check for $28,500. She was met by tennis coach Lawrence Eyre as well as many representatives of Maharishi International University, including from its new athletics department formed just last year, which has a co-ed tennis team. The check from USTA covers slightly more than half the cost of resurfacing the four indoor courts, which was about $50,000.
“USTA has a whole division that focuses on helping shore up our infrastructure across the country,” Bushman said. “It’s a nice little sum to be able to preserve these four beautiful courts.”
Bushman said Fairfield is unusual for having so many tennis courts for a town its size, with the four indoor courts adjacent to the six outdoor courts at the Punj Courts just across the street, plus eight courts at Fairfield Middle School.
Brad Mylett, vice president of development at MIU, said the courts were resurfaced a few months ago, the first time since they were installed in about 1985-86 when MIU converted the building into a recreation center.
“The courts were functional, but the surface had lost a lot of its texture, and they were really fast,” Mylett said.
Eyre said he was delighted to see there will be “many decades of joy” from indoor tennis at the rec center now that the courts have received a new surface courtesy of the USTA and local donors.
“We’re deeply indebted and grateful, because it changes the whole tone,” Eyre said about the USTA’s gift and the generous donations from residents. “After school hours, the courts are full, and the weekends are booked, too. People are seeing we can play tennis outdoors when the weather is nice, and not worry about it when it’s not nice. This extends the life of the recreation center and widens its accessibility to the community for fitness.”
Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com
