Details, details. Officials in Rome are using a twist on the “Build it and they will come” approach to the proposed Tennis Center of Georgia project.

There are no formal contracts yet between Berry College and either the city of Rome or Floyd County regarding the proposed 74-court tennis complex.

“That’s just not something that we have finalized yet,” said Rome Assistant City Manager Sammy Rich. Floyd County Manager Kevin Poe says that financial arrangements for the project need to be in place first.

Rome City Manager John Bennett says the property would either be owned by the city or part of a joint arrangement involving the city and county. He said the city would have a stake because it would be giving up the existing 16-court tennis center off West Third Street.

The sale of that complex sitting on 3 to 4 acres of land is expected to generate close to $1.3 million, which would offset the local cost of the new tennis center.

Click here to see a PDF of UGA’s economic impact study on the tennis center.

Similarly, there have been no papers signed regarding who will actually operate the complex. Bennett made it clear at the Jan. 21 press conference unveiling the tennis center plan that the community is making a commitment to the state that it will never ask for any additional funds to operate the complex.

“Other than the staff, there’s not a whole lot of operational costs involved,” said Bennett.

Berry College has indicated a willingness to allow students to provide some of the day-to-day staffing of the complex through its work-study program.

Berry legal counsel Danny Price said details of that arrangement are still going to take some negotiation since the students would not actually be working on Berry College property, and would likely have to be legally employed by the college. Work-study students at Berry are generally paid from college funds.

A contract does exist between the Greater Rome Convention and Visitors Bureau and ConnectSouth, the lobbying firm retained to work state lawmakers for $7.5 million in bond financing being sought for the tennis center.

Local leaders also conducted interviews with representatives of Hughes Public Affairs and a collaborative effort of the Lee Group and Capitol Hill Strategies for the lobbying job.

The consultants will receive $65,000, the bulk of which will come from the Convention and Visitors Bureau with the Coosa Valley Tennis Association and the Greater Rome Chamber of Commerce also contributing.

Some $20,000 was paid when the contract was signed in January. Installments of $15,000 will be due Feb. 15 and April 15 with the final $15,000 being paid Oct. 15 or at the time bonds for the center are sold.

Tony Simon, former special assistant to former House Speaker Glenn Richardson and former political adviser to the House Majority caucus, serves as point man for the project for ConnectSouth.

ConnectSouth’s list of clients includes Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, the Georgia Hospital Association, AT&T, Municipal Gas Authority of Georgia and the cities of Marietta and Dunwoody.

The ties to those two cities brought the firm to the attention of Rome officials. The firm has also consulted on campaigns for scores of Georgia lawmakers, including Rome Republican Rep. Katie Dempsey. “They’re winners and that’s what we need for this project,” said Dempsey on Tuesday.

ConnectSouth touts among its lobbying successes: winning legislative approval for the creation of community development districts and the restoration of $100 million in state funding for pharmacy care for nursing home patients.

While there is no formal arrangement yet regarding the actual ownership of the tennis complex, there has been discussion regarding the annexation of the property near Mount Berry Square into the city of Rome. Berry attorney Price said the college would also like to have some control over what would happen to the property should it ever cease to be used as a public tennis center.

Berry College, according to Price, would also require some recognition in the naming of the tennis complex since it is donating close to 30 acres of land. Additional corporate naming rights for the complex are anticipated as a significant source of revenue to help finance the tennis center.

Gordon Smith, United States Tennis Association executive director who was in Rome last week, is confident tax revenues generated by the facility would easily pay off bonds that the state would issue for the project.

Rome’s Bennett said any “profit” generated by the center would be devoted to an ongoing maintenance and improvement fund similar to an arrangement the county has with the Braves for State Mutual Stadium.

Bennett pointed out that the state gets 4 percent of all sales tax generated by tennis players and their families when they come to Rome for tournaments. The state would also get income taxes from jobs that are generated by the center and any development that would spin off from the center.

The complete economic impact study for the project, conducted by the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia estimates those expenditures by tennis players and their guests amount to $152.86 per person per day.

The report, prepared by Jeffrey M. Humphreys reads, “Measured in the simplest and broadest possible terms, the total annual (recurring) economic impact of the proposed 74-court tennis center will vary from $16.1 million to $28.1 million on output, depending on the number of tournaments.”

The local consortium has said it’d like to host at least 20 events a year.

Simon said getting the tennis center into the 2011 economic development sub-committee budget will be the next big hurdle to clear. Butch Parrish of Swainsboro chairs that sub-committee.

None of the members of the Rome delegation are members of the House Appropriations committee, however Rome Sen. Preston Smith is a member of the Senate Appropriations panel.

Simon said he feels good about the groundwork that has been laid for the project and said once the lawmakers get beyond the 2010 budget revisions, the real work for the Tennis Center of Georgia will kick into high gear.