Friday 4 April 2008

Unlucky 7 to bite the dust at The Chase

Chase Hotel and Leisure Club logoIt appears that more squash courts are to close in England - this time in Leicestershire.

The Chase Squash Club, based at the Chase Hotel and Leisure Club, is a 7-court facility that runs comprehensive coaching programmes and regularly hosts county and regional events.

However the Club is to sell the remainer of its lease to the adjacent racecourse ...

As well as the courts, the club is well-provisioned, with a fitness suite, conference rooms, 10 bedrooms and a restaurant.

The England Squash website reports that "rumours vary as to what will become of the building, but chances of courts remaining and the club running as before under new ownership are slim."

I have reported on squashblog the recent closures of courts in Morley and Harrow, and it is sad to see more squash courts - this time in the Midlands - going the same way.

The Chase Club's 200+ members may have to look to move to other clubs nearby, such as Leicester Squash Club and Market Harborough.

The England Squash site suggests, however, that member may look to join other clubs over county borders, such as Daventry (Northants), The Park (Nottingham), Coventry & North Warwickshire, Kenilworth, Leamington and Solihull Arden.

The Chase Squash Club

Posted by squashblogger at 10:07

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2 comments:

  1. Mainser4 April 2008 at 15:47

    Sad to see this happen, but it is a sad reflection of the economics. Unless the facilities are well used and owned by those who have squash as their primary objective then this will be a trend that will continue because there are more economically beneficial uses of land.

    The other thing that is happening almost unseen is at local leisure centres where councils are reducing the numbers of courts in a facility and replacing them with gym equipment. Locally we have just lost two courts where the centre has decided to turn two of the four courts into gym studios which earn more revenue.

    Until more people play the game I can only see this continuing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. squashblogger4 April 2008 at 15:55

    I've got some useful data for a case study on just this subject - will write up an article soon.

    Watch this space ...

    ReplyDelete

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