ROSWELL, Ga. — The breeze drifts. The lake twinkles.
Vernon and Marie Krause look at photos of their children. All is easy… except.
"It is… it's very challenging," Vernon explains.
For the subject on their minds, is still far too raw.
A month ago, Vernon Krause, a car dealer, found a project of his at the center of controversy. A 135-court tennis and pickleball center was scuttled by the city of Roswell after residents protested it being built on Big Creek Park.
It was supposed to be a lasting legacy for his daughter, Angela.
Angela Krause was next in line. She had overachieved in school, played volleyball at 5-foot-1 and wanted to lead her dad's arsenal of car dealerships around the Southeast.
And at age 29, she had just given birth to her second child, a son, Mason.
"She had the baby,” Vernon explained. “After two days, her husband had to rush to the emergency room 'cuz she couldn't breathe. She went in, and they knew there was something wrong."
It was cancer. Lung cancer. An incurable one that spread fast.
Mason was born Oct. 23 of 2014. Less than four months later, she was gone.
"One of the things that really motivated me, and still does, and always will – I changed the name of the dealership,” Vernon said. “Of course, wanted to do this tennis center or something that will have her name on it forever."
The first part was easy. Changing a name on a building he already owned. The second, became controversy.
Throughout 2018 Krause had worked with the City of Roswell on a tennis and pickleball center at Big Creek Park. The Krause Family Foundation would fund it with around $50 million, and the city would receive the largest venue of its kind in the country.
But the announcement brought a backlash, centering on the location and a lack of transparency from Roswell city government.
"Never thought there would be opposition to such an idea, and we miscalculated," Vernon said.
Within days, the tennis center was shelved. Roswell's mayor apologized through a statement, Krause via Facebook. The response was near universal: gratitude for pulling back, and support to honor Angela.
Vernon spoke with 11Alive’s Matt Pearl about what he'd do differently, but also about the personal reason that drove the project and continues to drive him today.
"We should've held public hearings, gotten everybody's input," he admitted. "You know, if you're not a tennis player, it probably wouldn't mean anything to you."
But the center is still in play. Vernon hopes it's still in Roswell.
"We made what I'll call an error of enthusiasm. We needed to slow down, and that's what we've done," he said.
But no matter what the evolution of the center is, Vernon vowed one thing is for sure: “It'll be named after Angie.”
