Amid the numerous festivities on the ESU campus during last weekend’s Homecoming celebration, a defining moment for Emporia State Athletics took place. On Saturday, October 19, ESU held the ceremonial groundbreaking for the Kossover Family Tennis Complex.
The new complex will bring championship-quality indoor courts to the ESU campus, as well as on-site locker rooms, coach’s office, players’ lounge and more.
The $3.2 million Kossover Family Tennis Complex will be a state-of-the-art facility, the first of its kind in the MIAA conference. Located near the existing Milton Tennis Courts on the southeast corner of Merchant Street and 18th Avenue, the complex will more than double the current tennis court footprint. Construction is slated to begin early in 2020.
“This complex will not only be a shot in the arm for ESU’s tennis program, but it also raises the bar of what’s possible for Emporia State and for the greater community,“ said Shane Shivley, Emporia State University Foundation president, in his remarks to the crowd.
Men’s tennis player Cameron Kienholz shared his excitement after the event.
“For our tennis program, it is a really big boost. There is a lot of excitement throughout the university about it. It is going to be a great new face for the university. It is going to be the first thing you see when you come off the highway, so I think that is a huge, huge deal. We can’t wait for it to get started.”