The Charleston County Park & Recreation Commission recently completed construction of two new tennis courts at Baptist Hill High School in Hollywood. These are the only public tennis courts in the area, and were funded through an SC Park and Recreation Development Fund (PARD) Grant, with CCPRC providing matching funds.
The Baptist Hill courts are the latest addition to the Rural Recreation Program, administered through Charleston County Community Education. This partnership between Charleston County School District (CCSD) and CCPRC provides recreation services in areas of the community which are not served by other municipal recreation departments. Previously, CCPRC funded recreation complexes on CCSD property at the campus of Shroeder Middle/C.C. Blaney Elementary School in Hollywood, and at St. James Santee Elementary in McClellanville.
The new courts will enable Baptist Hill High School to add tennis to its Physical Education curriculum and create a varsity tennis program for its students. But of equal importance, the courts will be accessible to the public when not in use for official school functions. This public access is a requirement of the PARD funding, and also of primary importance to CCPRC.
The addition of these courts also coincides with several other recent tennis-related accomplishments in the area, including Charleston’s selection by the United States Tennis Association (USTA) as the 2010 Best Tennis Town, CCSD’s receipt of a $150,000 grant from the USTA to fund the creation of 45 school- based tennis programs throughout Charleston County, and CCPRC’s renovation of courts at the Shroeder/C.C. Blaney campus. The Shroeder/C.C. Blaney campus facility renovation included the addition of Quickstart Tennis courts for younger players, giving the Hollywood area tennis facilities for ages five and up.
