You got served

There is great stuff to blog about in today’s Sun. Hopefully, I will have some time to put my fingers to my keyboard. There is one article I want to briefly mention, because it warms my heart. This article is making my resolution to be less bitter very easy. There is a private group of tennis enthusiasts who want to construct a $20 million tennis facility. What do they do? Do they ask the local government for money like the advocates for a 50 meter pool are doing? No, they don’t, and this is what makes me like them:

The Howard County Tennis Patrons are providing the money to build the $20 million facility through fundraising efforts and user fees.
Art Tollick, who leads the Howard County Tennis Patrons, said his group brings a deal any government would have trouble refusing.

"Every other group is saying, 'Come and give us the money,'" the 59-year-old King's Contrivance resident said. "We're saying, 'Work with us and we'll bring the money.'"
If the deal goes through, the county would lease the land to the tennis group. Tollick's group would raise construction funds and pay off the debt through fees charged to players, he said. The $200,000 already raised and about $300,000 more hoped to be raised would go for planning and engineering costs.

Later…

Tollick said his group comprises 600 tennis enthusiasts who want to build a $20 million center with 11 indoor courts, 19 outdoors, and stadium seating for 2,000 spectators. The facility would be on 16 acres near the park's planned entrance next to the Troy Hill Corporate Center. If built, he said, it would be the largest facility of its kind in the Mid-Atlantic region.

I am so happy with the precedent that this type of arrangement may set, and I wish this group the best of luck. This is a good tangible scenario to point to and show other groups that are begging for money from the government for entertainment venues.