By WVUA 23 News Reporter Mattie Davis
With five national championships, the University of Alabama wheelchair tennis team is acclaimed across the country, and now the Parker-Haun Tennis Facility is being built to boost the program.
Two Tuscaloosa couples, Tim and Cathy Parker and Charlie and Alice Haun, will fund the project with a $500,000 gift.
Tim Parker said they wanted to give back to the university that has given to them.
“We’re multi-generation University of Alabama graduates,” Parker explained. “We have a lot of family who went to the University of Alabama. When the university started their Capital Campaign, we made a decision we were going to make a gift to the university.”
The project also received an additional $370,000 in gifts from 21 other donors.
Evan Enquist, head wheelchair tennis coach, said there will be no other facility like this in the nation.
“I feel very proud that we set the bar for other colleges and other adapted sports programs to use us as a model,” Enquist said. “It shows that we can give our athletes the same experience as an able-bodied athlete at the University of Alabama.”
The new facility will be located on Peter Bryce Boulevard close to the University of Alabama Student Recreation Center.
“Now we’re going to have a home base,” Enquist said. “We’re going to have a permanent facility with locker rooms, coaches’ offices, and every amenity a varsity team has on a campus.”
Construction will begin immediately and is expected to be complete by the start of the fall 2021 semester.
Enquist is thankful for the families who are helping to provide the new 5,400 square-foot space.
“When the Parker-Haun families decided they were going to come in and make this possible, it was a celebration for sure,” Enquist said.