OCTOBER 20, 2020 BY KEVIN WEISS
The grand opening celebration of the Sarah Vande Berg Tennis & Wellness Center was serenaded in maybe the most Zephyrhills way possible — with a slew of skydiving parachute landings on the nearly 10-acre property, at 6585 Simons Road.
If the Oct. 17 event is any indication — even amid the COVID-19 pandemic — the state-of-the art tennis complex may put the city on the map not unlike how the airborne extreme sport has for decades.
Over 400 mask-wearing visitors turned out to get a firsthand look at a finished product five years in the making — accomplished through myriad partnerships between city, state, and private investment and donations.
The $4.9 million tennis complex is labeled, “Tampa’s first boutique-style racquet sports and wellness club.”
It lives up to the billing through:
- 11 regulation-sized outdoor tennis courts (nine clay surface, two hard surface)
- Eight outdoor pickleball courts
- Four outdoor padel courts
- Outdoor multipurpose turf field
- The nearly 8,000-square-foot indoor clubhouse, featuring a full-service restaurant/cafe, fitness center, salt room, yoga room, cryotherapy chamber and pro shop