Tennis Club of Trumbull Rebounds

Mother Nature gave the a hard serve but the club has won the match.

Althtough it's been open since late September, the remade club cut its grand reopening ribbon Saturday afternoon.

"The only part that was left was the outside cement walls of the building," said Ed Pagano, owner for 25 years.

But the new building can withstand larger snowloads, unlikely to fall outside of Antarctica, Pagano said.

The new construction is more watertight than the last building and can handle an additional 200,000 pounds of snow, an unlikely event. Connecticut code requires a tolerance of 30 pounds per square foot but the club's capacity is 35.

The structure is a Butler metal building. "No Butler building, from what they said, came down. It's regarded as the Cadillac of metal buildings," Pagano said. "This building isn't going anywhere."

First Selectman Tim Herbst cut the ribbon and he and Trumbull Republican Town Committee Chairman Jack Testani toured the facility. 

"This is very exciting. It looks great," Herbst said. "It looks fantastic."

While the building's footprint remains the same, the locker rooms are bigger and have keypad locks. The interior is also brighter.

Structurally, the courts are professional quality, and the ceiling proved watertight during Hurricane Irene. The lighting has been rearranged to prevent players from being blinded, a problem in the first building. A generator will supply power in case of an outage.

The club continues to offer child care during tennis sessions.

Ed Pagano's son, John Pagano, said many users have returned and new ones are coming in because of the renovations. "I think we're definitely getting a lot more attention," he said. "A lot of [current users] had faith we would get it done."