OLDS — A spokesman for local squash players says they’re upset by an announcement that the Community Learning Campus (CLC) plans to turn the lone squash court in the CLC fitness facility into “a versatile fitness space.”
Those plans were announced via a news release issued by the Olds College of Agriculture & Technology Jan. 16, saying the court space is “underutilized.”
“The planned renovations will primarily focus on transforming the underutilized squash court area into a versatile fitness space,” the CLC said in a news release.
“This newly revamped area will provide ample room for clients to engage in a wide range of fitness activities, including stretching, core exercises, plyometrics, battle rope workouts, TRX training and medicine ball wall tosses.
The release said all the necessary materials have been ordered. Construction is expected to begin in mid-February, with the new space being opened to the public in May.
“These additions will significantly enhance the variety of fitness options available to the community,” the release said.
“The upgrade plan represents a strategic move to maximize space and resources in response to the rising demand for more training options from community clients, including Olds College of Agriculture & Technology and Olds High School.”
Peter Ritchie, who says he’s one of more than 50 squash players who use the court, disagrees with the CLC’s assessment that that space is underutilized, although he conceded that squash players may not use it daily.
During an interview with the Albertan, Ritchie said the squash players didn’t know about the CLC renovation plans until one player heard a rumour on Jan. 15, which was then confirmed via the news release.
Ritchie said the announcement is especially galling for the local squash players because it’s the only publicly available squash court between Red Deer and Calgary.
"It’s partly concern, partly frustration,” he said.
“The fact that this decision came down without the CLC talking to any of the members or occasional users that actually use the squash court.
“I had just renewed my squash membership a couple of weeks ago for another year.
“The only reason I joined the club is because of the squash court. And there's a number of other people that are members there for the same reason."
He said he and his wife had been looking at getting a membership so for their daughter so she could learn to play squash too.
“We know at least one guy that decided to settle in the Didsbury area because of the availability of the squash court here in Olds,” he said.
Ritchie said the squash players are hoping a compromise can be reached where the court is used for other purposes when it’s not in use for squash games.
He said one of the squash players who has raised the issue is a member of the college faculty.
“In fairness to them, they have been willing thus far to listen to people who are issuing concerns,” Ritchie said, adding he was able to discuss the squash users’ concerns last week with Olds College vice-president of student experience, Peter Mal.
Ritchie said he spoke to Mal about the issue for “some time” and that Mal seemed “very receptive to listening.”
However, Ritchie came away from the meeting not feeling that the decision regarding the space will be changed.
“It seems kind of odd that the year that squash has finally been accepted as a new sport for the Olympics is the year that they're dispensing with it,” he said.
“We're not ready to give up on it until the last, you know, day arrives in the court is actually they start dismantling it,” Ritchie said.
“We want to continue to try and find a solution where both sides win and nobody loses.”
Ritchie said he advocated for a squash court decades ago and at the advice of a friend, raised the idea with former Olds College president Tom Thompson, who also turned out to be a squash player.
Ritchie said after the court was created, he went to the CLC and asked its manager where the court was located.
“His response to me was, ‘well, if it had been my choice, I wouldn't have put the squash court in, but somebody high up wanted it.’”
Ritchie said a reason the court may be deemed to be underutilized is that in his opinion, its existence hasn’t been promoted sufficiently.
He noted that it’s located in “a back corner” of the CLC.
If the decision stands and the squash court no longer exists, Ritchie was asked if local squash players could find another space to create one.
He said he didn’t know of any available space to create one and at his age (66) he’s not sure he’s got the energy to do so.
“I've heard rumours that some guy built a squash court on his farm, but that's not a public venue,” he said.
The squash players have contacted Squash Alberta about the problem recently.
Ritchie said they’ve been told that group would be willing to work with the CLC to either reverse the decision or strike a compromise that would allow the court to remain.
Crystal Steeves, director of marketing and communications for the college, said the decision to change the use of the squash court space was taken after a “very studied approach.”
“This wasn't something that was done on a whim at all. There was a usage study that was done that identified that as the area within the facility that was most suited for the change that was needed," she said.
“So this wasn't, you know, simply a case of ‘oh, we don't think anybody uses it too much.’ (There) was very thoughtful and careful study put into that.”
However, that doesn’t mean there isn’t a chance that the decision will be reversed, Steeves suggested.
“We obviously don't take the concerns of the squash players lightly and I think that's indicated by the fact that there are ongoing conversations with leadership,” she said.
“So you know it's not something that we're disregarding. We hear the concerns absolutely and I think that the outcome remains to be seen.”
