[TESTIMONIAL] RENAUD PFEFFER, MAYOR OF MORNANT (69)

“A COVERED STRUCTURE TO CREATE A NEW DYNAMIC”,

Last June, the town of Mornant, located in the Rhône region of France, inaugurated a structure with two tennis courts built by SMC2. Its first indoor courts will allow the local club to grow as playing will be possible all year round. Renaud Pfeffer, the mayor of this town of over 5,000 inhabitants, looks back on the structure.

Why did you invest in this covered structure?
For the past few years in Mornant, we have had a general sports facility improvement policy. As part of the policy, we decided to renovate the 4 existing porous concrete tennis courts and to cover two of them so that the local tennis club could offer its members the means to play all year round so that it could grow, while increasing the sports offer in our town. This investment has been a success as the number of licensees has increased to 180. The primary schools are also happy to be able to use these covered courts.

Can you present the works?
From the start, we worked closely with the club’s managers to understand their needs in order to optimise playing facilities for their members.
In addition to being covered, the two existing porous concrete courts have been completely refurbished: surface, lighting, paint, equipment… They now have a lighting system adapted to demand and disabled access.
The two outdoor courts have also been refurbished (surface and paint) and members also benefit from the existing clubhouse nearby.

What are the qualities that made you choose the SMC2 structure?
We already had two gymnasiums and we didn’t want that type of structure because we believe that a multi-sports gymnasium isn’t suitable for playing tennis properly. It’s also expensive infrastructure that is long to build.
On the other hand, the SMC2 concept has a quite simple construction system, meaning time saving and a controlled budget. The materials are high quality too. For example, the textile membrane is very interesting in terms of light, with significant natural light (and therefore electricity savings), but also in terms of acoustics. Indeed, it’s an important issue for players because in certain structures the noise resonates too much and is very unpleasant.
We are therefore fully satisfied with this new structure in terms of functionality, technique and budget.

See also: Photo report on the Mornant tennis hall