Dear Members,
Activity on the site has now moved from planning to implementation. All of the old tennis court surfaces have been removed and the first layer of new surface will take place this Friday. Additional foundations have been poured and everything is set for the steel building to show up next week. From here on out significant progress will be notable on a weekly basis. As always we will keep you posted. We have also uploaded new pictures for those who haven’t driven by.
Thank you,
TCT
May 13, 2011
Dear Members,
Things may have seemed quiet at the site, but it is only the quiet before the storm of activity about to begin. We are still on target for our fall programs. The plans for the clubhouse have been completed. Both floors have been redesigned. Subcontractors are being hired. The steel for the clubhouse repairs will arrive shortly and the entire tennis building will arrive mid-June. Completion time being only three weeks.
John, Janet, and I have visited about a dozen clubs to check out their lighting systems and interior design. The best system so far is the one on Randall’s Island, where John McEnroe has his junior training camps. Their building is comparable in size to ours and their lighting is really outstanding. It emphasizes the height of the building and achieves superior court light levels. The glare problem is further diminished by staggering the level of the lights and also by moving the lights higher and further off the side of the court. This system is superior to all that we have seen so far.
We will be updating our website in the next few weeks for our fall programs. We are leaving you with a list of projects that have been already completed: site work, foundations for courts, foundations for club house, natural gas service, water service, electrical to all buildings and the parking lot. Compared to 25 years ago we are way ahead of schedule.
Feel free to contact us at (203) 268 3030 with any questions. We look forward to seeing you in the fall!
Thank you,
The Pagano family
Visit brianbarkertennis.com for information on the Tournament Training/Junior Tennis Programs this Spring/Summer.
Thank you
Dear Members,
Just a short update on our progress. The tennis court building has been ordered and it will take roughly two months to arrive on site. Thankfully, it can be erected in about three weeks weather permitting. This puts the construction of the steel building through mid June and completion by mid July. The tennis building size and dimensions are essentially the same as the original with one exception. We increased the snow load capacity beyond the required code. In the meantime work is progressing on the brick clubhouse.
As of this letter, the clubhouse is being completely gutted to expose the steel structure. Engineers will determine what can stay structurally and what needs to be replaced. The entire interior will be renewed. We are also posting photos to show progress.
Season court renewals are coming in for the fall and about 99% of refunds requested have been issued. The rest are currently being processed and will follow shortly. Thank you again for your patience and watch the website for progress. We will issue periodic updates to keep you informed.
If you have any questions please call us at (203) 268 3030 or email us at Contact@tcttennis.com.
Sincerely,
Ed & John Pagano
Tournament Training Spring 2011
Location:
Tennis Central
110 Bradley Road
Woodbridge, CT 06525
Day: Sundays
Time: 5:00 – 6:30pm
Level: Tournament Training 2.0 & 2.5
Length: 8 week commitment (the final 8 weeks for those who would have been committed to the 17 week session here at TCT)
Dates: April 3 – May 29
* No clinic on Easter Sunday, April 24 *
Cost: $490/day (A reduced rate from the fall/winter rate. It also includes 1 week free because we anticipate players missing a day due to school vacation).
Instructors: Brian Barker, Matt Daly, Aaron Kusza, Beth Norton, and Ben Zuckerberg.
Registration Process: Please contact Aaron: aaron@tcttennis.com to register
Payment Process: Payments are to be made IN FULL on the 1st day, April 3rd.
Please make payments out to: Brian Barker Tennis LLC
Coming Soon: Summer Tournament Training Information!
Dear Members,
We have just recently completed mailing statements reflecting customer refunds. The adjusted statement includes instructions on how to receive a refund check. At the bottom of your statement, a negative number next to “Balance Due”, identifies the amount of the refund due to you. If you are requesting a refund or have questions regarding the refund, please send an email to refund@tcttennis.com.
In addition, we have mailed billing statements to customers reflecting adjustments for lost time, due to the roof collapse. Please mail payments to our address at 61 Monroe Turnpike, Trumbull, CT 06611.
If you have any questions regarding your bill/statement please email us at billing@tcttennis.com.
You may also call us at 203 268 3030 and leave a message. We check our phone messages daily, however, we can respond to emails more quickly.
Thank You,
The Tennis Club of Trumbull
Dear Members,
It has been about two weeks since TCT has come down. Our family would like to take this opportunity to thank all those members for their kind phone calls and e-mails expressing their concern for TCT. It was a great shock and something that is never contemplated when you begin a business. It may fail because of economics or competition. All this can be expected and understood. But to see it in ruins steel girders twisted and bent, concrete block walls crushing tennis ball carts, lobby chairs and tables crushed under the weight of so much debris is quite unexpected and overwhelming. But the most chilling thing was finding the clock over Court 5, which was blown out of the building and its hands frozen at 7:25pm.
It is not an easy decision to cancel members’ court time or clinic lessons. People want to play. And people react differently to bad weather. Some mornings during my plowing days the early morning guys would be at the club after a significant snow. Others would call to cancel because of driving conditions. This Tuesdays was a little different. It was not a huge snow storm but rain in some places, ice in others. As I drove up Rt. 25, the rain was turning to sleet and that “north of the Merritt Parkway area” was beginning to glaze over. So we decided to cancel the afternoon kids and the evening courts because of the impending ice storm. We had also canceled Wednesday morning. It seemed that winter preferred to mess up most of our Tuesdays and Wednesdays. But it would all be made up.
At 7:25pm on a Tuesday night the courts are filled with children’s clinics and season courts. Up in the lobby, parents are watching or reading while they wait. Other members are at the window checking to see if their courts are empty before going down to play.
But this Tuesday we were blessed. When the roof came down there were only empty courts, and an empty lobby. No one was at the front desk or in the locker rooms. The only thing left twisted on the courts was the steel and the only things broken were the concrete blocks of the building. You could say that, “Somebody up there likes us.”
Because of that extraordinary circumstance, looking ahead is possible now. We have begun the process that will allow us to begin again in the fall. It is now only about insurance and construction and time. Twenty five years ago, we began construction in March and opened in September. It should be easier this time. The site work is already done, the utilities are in place and the foundations should be reusable, saving an enormous amount of time.
We have set up a temporary office and are computing credits and refunds. All customer data is complete. We are in the process of adjusting all of the customer accounts. Statements will be issued shortly which will reflect the amount of refund due each customer. We thank you for your patience. We are as anxious as you for everyone to be whole again. Please check the web site for further updates. Again thank you for your kind thoughts and wishes.
Thank you,
Ed Pagano
President TCT
Dear Valued Customers,
We have been working diligently to go through our thousands of customer accounts so that we may supply refunds/credits for the court time that will not be utilized for the remainder of the winter session. We will be sending out statements reflecting the adjustments along with correspondence confirming your request of a refund and the address it is to be mailed to. Again, thank you for your patience with this process.
TCT
Although it has been extremely busy for us over the last couple weeks, it has also been exciting to continue with our programs largely due to all of your patience, support, and commitment to our efforts. And your commitment to us fuels our continual commitment to you so that your child has the best tennis environment in order to improve and have fun.
We have received a refreshingly large demand for our tournament training program moving forward on Sundays at Tennis Central and we could not be more excited to work with everyone again. Friday nights, on the other hand and for understandable reasons, have surfaced as a much more difficult day and time for most people to the extent that we have no choice but to make a tough decision.
And because the Friday night time-slot conflicts with most player’s tournament commitments and/or most cannot attend to do other reasons, we have decided that WE WILL NOT BE RUNNING TOURNAMENT TRAINING ON FRIDAYS. This decision is based upon what is best for our players.
The numbers and levels are not appropriate to facilitate a training environment that our players were previously accustomed to. Court time is still available Friday nights at Tennis Central so we encourage our players to reach out to one another to set up their own practice sessions if you still desire to play on Friday nights.
We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you once more for your support and patience.
On behalf of TCT, we would like to once again thank everyone for your support and patience during these difficult times.
We have been working endlessly to accommodate as many people and players in order to continue tennis programs and/or create additional tennis options. Beginning with our tournament training 1.0 and 1.5 programs, we have been able to lock down days and court time at Tennis Central in Woodbridge, CT.
TT1 – Tuesday and Thursday, 8:00 – 9:30pm (FULL)
Sunday 5:00 – 6:30pm
TT 1.5 – Friday 8:00 – 9:30 and Sundays 6:30 – 8:00pm.
This will begin Sunday, Feb. 21st.
For TT 1.0 registration, please contact Matt: mattdaly7@yahoo.com
For TT 1.5 registration, please contact Aaron: aaron@tcttennis.com
Despite our best efforts, we encountered major obstacles in keeping additional programs intact at other sites due to lack of court availability and traveling distance. Programs ending at 9:30, for the limited courts that we have, would be impractical for our younger players as well as our local high school players who were accustomed to afternoon clinics. We apologize that we could not accommodate everyone and every program.
We do want to offer one final alternative for those who are still seeking tennis for their kids. In addition to seeking other programs, we encourage the parents to work together and organize groups around their kids. This could involve friends who want to stay together, or players who want to train together in a clinic setting. Once a group is put together, we advise you to reach out to a pro of your choosing from our contact information below. And from there, you will be able to work directly with the pro of your choosing for a convenient site, day, time that works for all sides. This can include private lessons and/or clinics. A couple facilities to begin with can be Tennis Central in Woodbridge and Sport & Wellness in Danbury. If further assistance is necessary for recommendations for other programs and clubs, please feel free to email Aaron.
Matt Daly – mattdaly7@yahoo.com
Aaron Kusza – aaron@tcttennis.com
Isidro Martinez – imars7@gmail.com
Beth Norton – beth@tcttennis.com
Zeljko Knezevic – zeljkoknezevic@live.com
Ben Zuckerberg – at04@hotmail.com
Brian Barker is currently putting much of his efforts into organizing programs for the spring and summer as well as ensuring everything is in place for the Fall. In 6 or 7 weeks, we hope to resume normal clinics at a weekly schedule similar to what TCT was offering during the winter.
We wish everyone the very best!
