Huston-Marsh-Griffith Tennis Center dedicated on April 17

A crowd of well-wishers and top Lipscomb University officials were present Saturday, April 17, to witness the dedication of and inaugural serve at the Huston-Marsh-Griffith Tennis Center. The 2,200-square-foot tennis center includes a pro shop with a retail store, common area, restrooms and eventually locker rooms. It sits atop the Allen Arena West Parking Garage along with six tennis courts.

 

Honorees Bill Huston, Stephen Marsh and Lynn Griffith were all friends and tennis enthusiasts at Lipscomb University in the 1970s. Huston, CFO of Southern Care Inc. in Birmingham, is the lead donor on the project, contributing the funds in honor of the late Stephen Marsh and Lynn Griffith.

 

Huston and his wife Myra, Stephen Marsh’s parents Lee and Ann, Stephen's wife Kathy and daughter Kayla, and Griffith and his wife Dianne were present at the Saturday ceremony and each received a new Wilson tennis racket as a gift from the Lipscomb tennis teams. Bill Huston gave the inaugural serve at the Huston-Marsh-Griffith Tennis Center.

 

Huston, now a Dallas resident, was on the tennis team during his college days at Lipscomb and felt that providing funds for the tennis center would expand the presence of Lipscomb’s NCAA tennis program. Quality facilities will bring a sense of pride and better competition to the Bisons tennis teams, he said.

 

The Huston-Marsh-Griffith Tennis Center is also the home of the newly established Lipscomb Racquet Club offering annual memberships for unlimited use of the courts, a pay-as-you-play option for walk-ins and junior and adult instructional programs at prices competitive with surrounding fitness clubs. The Lipscomb Racquet Club has also established a partnership with the Green Hills YMCA, offering special membership discounts for YMCA members.

 

Marsh was Huston’s college roommate for three years in college and a close friend. He is the late son of former Lipscomb board member Lee Marsh. “Steven was the brother I never had,” Huston said. “Even though he is not with us anymore, he is someone I look to for guidance in the way he lived his life. I wanted to honor him in a symbolic way.”

 

Lynn Griffith is a Huston family friend and was tennis coach at Lipscomb University for 21 years. He has worked at Lipscomb for 30 years, and currently serves as a professor in the kinesiology department.

 

“Lynn has done more than anyone else to build a quality first-rate tennis program at Lipscomb,” Huston said. “He has such a passion for tennis; it leaks over to everyone around him.”

 

Lipscomb has eight new tennis courts total, completed in summer 2009. Two of the eight are located directly at the corner of Granny White Pike and Shackleford, not on top of the garage. These courts are called the 'Fessor Boyce Championship Stadium, and this is where the Bisons tennis teams play their NCAA matches.

 

The Huston-Marsh-Griffith Tennis Center is most accessible from the southernmost Belmont Boulevard entrance.