Some of you (i.e. those who attended our Annual Presentation Night) will know that we have secured a £25,000 grant from England Squash and Racketball. This means that together with £25,000 match funding from the club we have £50,000 to spend on Squash Section Renovations.
The purpose of this email is to inform all Squash Members what we, the Committee, intend to do with the funding.
We have identified 3 areas of concern:
Project 1: Court renovation.
The walls of courts 2, 3 and 4 are in desperate need of an overhaul (some of you will already be aware of the ever growing hole in the front wall of court 4).
The courts have been inspected by 3 reputable national companies and in brief, their findings are:
- Front walls require stripping back to brickwork and replastering.
- Side/back walls require skimming.
- Out of court lines need replacing with new modern `flush-fit` ones.
- Doors require replacing with new 30 minute fire doors.
- New `Tins` required (courts 2 and 3 only).
- Following plastering, floors will require sanding/relining.
We have managed to negotiate a variety of additional small jobs to be included:
- Repair of cracks to Court 1.
- Repair of loose floor boards to court 1.
- Overhaul of glassback wall to court 1.
Project 2: Changing Room renovations.
The changing rooms are in desperate need of a facelift.
Initially, our bid to England Squash was for £50,000 (plus £50,000 match funding from the club) which would have allowed us to carry out a complete overhaul of both the ladies and gents changing rooms/shower areas. Unfortunately our bid was halved and therefore we have to `cut our cloth to suit`.
Prior to receiving our grant we had a site visit with a local contractor who put together a quote for a complete renovation. The quote was 33,454. Clearly we cannot now afford this and we are currently in negotiations to reduce the quote/work. With this in mind we intend to:
- Replace all shower fittings/pipework
- Replace tiling
- Fit new ceramic wall mounted soap dishes
- Unibond and skim all walls to changing areas (followed by self-help painting)
- Fit new toilet and sink in Men`s Changing Room
- Fit new corner sink in Ladies Changing Room
We will negotiate additional works if funds allow. These may include:
- New flooring to changing areas
- Substitute tiling for easywipe wallboards
- Replace changing room flooring where necessary
Project 3: Dwarf wall replacement
The dwarf walls at the back of courts 2, 3 and 4 are deemed a health and safety risk. Last year we had a fire/safety visit and a variety of areas for improvement were identified. All have now been implemented with the exception of the dwarf walls. The issue with these walls is that our juniors have to stand on stools/chairs or hang over the rail to view/referee. This practice is considered dangerous.
Therefore this practice cannot continue and we have asked a local builder to replace the walls with railings similar to those above court 1 which conform to current Health and Safety Regulations.
Additionally, the same builder will install a stud petition wall along the side of Court 3 to satisfy Health and Safety issues. It will also provide additional Notice Board space.
Project 4: New carpet
The carpet in the squash area is clearly past its `sell-by` date. We intend to re-carpet throughout the whole area. We are currently negotiating with local firms.
We believe we can achieve all of this with the funding available.
The work is scheduled to take place during the summer months of 2011. We envisage that the courts will be out of action for a maximum of 3 weeks.
Our next task is to form a `Renovation Project Team`. Volunteers so far are:
Clive Lucas, Richard Vitty, Derek Collins
In particular we are looking for someone who has experience in Building Works Scheduling and/or Project Management. Anyone who is interested in joining the project team or wishes to comment on any of the above is requested, in the first instance, to contact Derek Collins (preferably by email).
Clive
