Radical plan to transform abandoned bowling club in popular Ayrshire park

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A bid has been launched to radically transform an abandoned bowling club in a popular Ayrshire park.Kilmarnock's Howard Park Bowling Club folded in 2019 leaving the facilities at the south of the popular green space to fall into disrepair.Now the town's tennis club, based at London Road, has put forward plans to take charge of the site via a community asset transfer.The once pristine bowling green would make way for two new artificial grass courts, according to the tennis club's proposals.An outdoor padel court would also form part of blueprints.

Padel is a relatively new racket sport and typically played in doubles on an enclosed court roughly 25 per cent smaller than the size of a tennis court.A mini tennis court would also feature and floodlights would surround the project along with smart access gate technology.A statement informing the public of the community asset transfer bid says that Kilmarnock Tennis Club (KTC) is at capacity and wants to expand its offering in the town.The form reads: "Established in 1936, Kilmarnock Tennis Club, herein referred to as KTC, is a not for profit sports club who provided their members with tennis facilities and playing/development opportunities. "Membership of KTC is open to anyone in the community with no restrictions on who can join"The club has grown significantly over the last few years and could be considered to be at, or to exceed, capacity at their site in London Road, the club wish to retain and grow the membership, expand the facilities available in Kilmarnock and to introduce the new activity of padel tennis. "They also wish to open up tennis to more people in the town through provision of gate access technology that will allow anyone to book and play tennis or padel