ALBURY Council discussions about the possibility of bringing tennis champion Margaret Court's collection of trophies back to her home town have officially stalled, but key players believe the door is still open for the project in the future.
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It has been more than 12 months since the plans were last discussed by the council, Cr Henk Van de Ven said.
A lack of support from state governments, as well as Tennis Australia, had stalled talks on the project.
“It's not on our radar at the moment, it's one of those ones that has been put to sleep for the time being because there wasn't enough support from Tennis Australia,” Cr Van de Ven said.
“They have preferred for their memorabilia to be in Melbourne.”
Mrs Court's unrivalled collection of 62 grand slam trophies are split between Melbourne Park and her home in Perth.
Cr Van de Ven said the planned museum, which would house the trophies in a manner comparable to the Don Bradman museum in Bowral, could still be put back on the table in future.
“We haven't discussed it as a council for at least 12 to 18 months,” he said.
“I’ve done a bit over the last three or four years trying to get something up, but without significant funding from other bodies it wasn’t going to be possible.
“It's just one of those things – it would have been really nice to have here for a variety of reasons.
“If the stars align in the future it could go further than just an idea.”
Mrs Court, Cr Van de Ven, as well has her nephew Phil Shanahan, have advanced the idea of a museum since 2010.
Proposed to be built at the Albury Grasscourts, the museum would have housed the trophies in four display rooms.
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