Anybody who has visited the club in the last few weeks might have noticed a spot of work has been going on!

A significant amount of work has gone on to boost the electrical supply to enable the club to put floodlights on court 2. Firstly, the club’s interesting wiring had to be investigated and a fair bit of work done to bring it up to the standard needed before we were allowed to beef up the supply to 3-phase. A new fuse box had to installed along with a new meter and a significant amount of subterranean cabling – hence the big hole in the drive that some of you may have noticed! British Gas have so far been the only one of several contractors who didn’t complete on time. Happily the hole is now filled in and it did not  not affect the actual operation of the floodlights.

Returning the hall floor to its former glory.

Court 2 finally floodlit

The floodlight contractors have been back to install new heads on the pillars around court 2 and install new control boxes so that we can actually switch off the lights at the end of play with some confidence.

For anybody who doesn’t know, Gymboree has ended its association with the club and we wish them all the best in their new venue. The hall how now been returned, which are for the most part much easier on the eye. The hall now looks much cleaner, brighter and bigger. In addition, a team of club members have also painted all doors, window-frames and cupboards in the hall to match; emptied the “gents’ changing room” and put its contents into the original storage area; re-painted the gents’ changing room and boarded out and recovered the floor. Whilst all this activity has been going on, all male members of the club will be glad to know, the gents toilets has also been upgraded to a similar standard to the ladies, including extending the time the light will stay on without any movement so that anybody using the shower is not suddenly plunged into pitch darkness! Any ladies who have been surprised to find their facilities invaded by the opposite sex during the summer now know why.

The floors in the hall and bar have also been sanded and re-sealed. It’s some years now since this was last done and the hall floor particularly is showing signs of fatigue. A nice shiny new finish should really make the hall look lovely again in time for the club party at the end of September – put 24rd September in your diaries if you haven’t already.

It’s a real tribute to those who organised and completed all the works that they have been achieved with so little impact on the real business of the club – playing tennis. It may have looked calm on the surface, but the swan’s legs had nothing on this one!

Week 9 & 10

WE HAVE GRASS!

No we are not entering the narcotics trade to subside the refurbishment! All 4 courts are now back up and running. The sand is bedding down nicely with the constant use they got on Bank Holiday Monday. Everyone who has used them have had nothing but praise for the way they play.

During the course of this week the fences will be repaired and re-secured, the gates re-instated, all remaining debris cleared and the windbreaks erected. Also the re-decoration to the exterior of the clubhouse will be completed. Those of you with a horticultural bent may also wish to know that the barbeque area has now been replanted. I’m assured that the manure smell will receed in time!

Don’t forget the Open Day on 30th May followed by the first social event of the season, for which there are still some tickets remaining.

All that remains to be said is thank you all of you for your patience over the last 10 weeks and also thanks to all those who have participated in this project, especially Brian.

Come on down and enjoy.

Whilst awaiting delivery of the artificial turf work continues to tidy up court surrounds. The decking has been cleaned and the overhanging branches on the drive have been cut back.

The turf arrives this week and will, all being well, be complete by the end of the week. Also during the latter part of this week and early next week the exterior of the club will be cleaned and repainted.

Don’t forget the Wimbledon ticket ballot is being held this Friday, 22nd May. This will also be a good chance to view the largest carpet in Southfields.

For those of you not in the know we have our annual open day on May 30th from 13:00 followed in the evening by the first social event of the season details of which can be found under the newsletter section of the website.Labels: Week 8 – Work Continues

As you can see we have courts! You may also notice they are not green. Unfortunately the artificial turf has been delayed at the manufacturers and will not arrive until 11th May, a week later than planned. As a stop gap measure the contractors have marked out temporary lines on the tarmacadam surface and erected the nets and posts. This at least allows play to continue.

Also this week all the over hanging trees around the courts have been judiciously pruned to minimise leaf fall onto the new surface. The large trees surrounding the balcony area have also been substantially cut back allowing more light onto the balcony. This will also ensure we no longer have to eat guano flavoured sausages!

This weekend courts 5 and 6 are being cleaned as is the decking and facia of the club in readiness for the new courts opening.

As you can see we now have the largest car park in Southfields! The first layer of the tarmacadam is now down with the second to follow next week.

It is envisaged that the artificial turf will arrive the week after next, the same week the fences will be fixed and the cosmetic jobs completed.

Work is in hand to organise a local tree surgeon to drastically prune all overhanging branches and generally tidy up all the boundary fences. This will not only make the place substantially tidier but also stop potential damage to the new surface.

Having spoken to the contractors it is envisaged that access to courts 5 and 6 will remain for the duration of the refurbishment work. It must be stressed, however, that during the week access is only available after 4pm due to Health and Safety regulations.

As we enter week 6 of the refurbishment all progresses well. Trenches have been laid all around the perimeter of the courts to catch “stray” balls.

As you read this the tarmacadam is on its way and will start being laid on Wednesday. If all goes according to plan, as everything else has done so far, then this should be complete by the end of next week.

It is expected that when the tarmacadam laying begins there will be no access to courts 5 and 6. A global email and a further update will be posted as soon as this is confirmed. Watch this space.

Week 4 arrives and all continues to go well. All 4 courts have now had the aggregate applied and levelled.

The cabling for the floodlights has now been laid and the trenches are currently being filled. By the end of the week this work should be complete.

The surface has now been ordered along with the court wind breakers.

Courts 5 and 6 should be accessible up until Monday 20th April when the tarmacadam base will be laid at which point access will be denied for at least 2 weeks.

Keep watching this space for further updates.Labels: Week 4 update

Work continues to progress well this week. The porous membrane has been laid on all courts and the first surface has been applied. The next job will be to dig the ditches on court 2 to accommodate the floodlight cabling.

According to the contractors they are approximately 1 day in advance of their initial predictions.

Whilst they are still endeavouring to grant access to courts 5 & 6 they stress that this can only be after they have finished work for the day, so as not to contravine health and safety legislation. Please could all members adhere to this.

Please could you also view this site regularly to check the court access restrictions as we do not believe it will be long before we lose access completely.

In answer to a post to this site last week there is no intention to provide a webcam feed as we believe those with a predilection for earth moving equipment and men in hard hats and high visibility vests are better catered for elsewhere on the information super highway!

Watch this space for further updates.

As you can see work is moving rapidly. One large skip per day has been leaving the club, so you can imagine the amount of shale and soil that has been removed.

Today (Wednesday) the netposts were removed, no mean feat as each one was encased in a cubic yard of concrete.

No doubt you will all see for yourselves how the the work has progressed when you come to the AGM this Friday.

Labels: Week 2 refurbishment so far