BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) – The plans for an indoor tennis facility in Bryan’s Midtown Park, which would be utilized by the Texas A&M men’s and women’s tennis teams, has been scrapped, according to a termination agreement posted as part of the city council’s meeting agenda Tuesday.

Previous report: City of Bryan approves indoor facility for Texas A&M Tennis

The plans will officially be terminated after passing a vote from the council at the 5:30 p.m. meeting Tuesday in the Bryan Municipal Building.

Cited reasons for halting the project included significant and increasing construction costs, a shift in the project location, and an extensive design process.

Termination of the plan was mutually agreed upon by the City of Bryan and the Texas A&M University System, according to the document. Both parties will split the $851,943 already spent toward the project.

The lack of an indoor facility restrains A&M from hosting any indoor regular season matches, as well as conference or NCAA tournaments. A&M also won’t host an outdoor NCAA Tournament match without an indoor facility, which are used in case of inclement weather.

A&M is the only tennis program in the SEC that doesn’t have an indoor facility. However, Missouri’s indoor facility only contains four courts and can’t be used for official matches.

“We want to extend our appreciation to Bryan officials for understanding the situation and look forward to continuing to work with them,” Susan Ballabina, chief of staff to A&M president Mark Welsh said in a statement provided to KBTX. “Texas A&M University is committed to strategically prioritizing its financial resources to better support student-athletes in new and evolving ways. As the landscape of collegiate athletics continues to change with a growing emphasis on Name, Image & Likeness (NIL) opportunities, we recognize the need to adapt to these new challenges. Like the City of Bryan, we also are disappointed that this project will no longer be moving forward.”

A&M athletes earned $19.4 million in NIL deals from July 1, 2023 to July 1, 2024, according to an open records request made to the university.

Last spring, the Aggie women’s tennis won a team national championship at Oklahoma State’s Greenwood Tennis Center. A&M plays its outdoor matches at the estimated $4.2 million Mitchell Tennis Center, which opened in October of 1998.

“We are optimistic that we will get our own facility,” women’s head coach Mark Weaver told KBTX. “How soon, I have no idea.”

The original plan for the Interlocal Agreement for Multipurpose Facility was approved by the Bryan City Council in Oct. 2023, which included a $17 million price tag and a two-year timetable. Most of those funds would be provided by A&M, Bryan’s Mayor Bobby Gutierrez told KBTX at the time.

“We will get, generally, the majority of the use out of it and A&M will be paying a majority of the construction for it,” added Mayor Gutierrez. “So, the citizens of Bryan and Brazos County get a lot of use out of it, for something that they’re really using us as a corporate partner.”

KBTX sports director Tyler Shaw contributed to this report.

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