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Announcement

Jan 03, 2024

Message from SPORTIME CEO, Claude Okin: Construction Update

Dear SPORTIME Schenectady Members, Parents and Players:

With the current 2023-2024 indoor tennis and pickleball season in full swing, we hope that you have been enjoying your experience at SPORTIME Schenectady. After the major damage our facility suffered from the fire in April 2023, we are proud both to have been able to find a way to continue operations, after a very brief interruption, and of the tremendous progress we have made reconstructing our facility. We appreciate your patience, support and understanding while we complete the rebuild, which is going very well, but taking a few more months than we had hoped, as often happens with construction projects. We trust that the inconveniences that many of you may have experienced, or may still be experiencing, will be well worth the final result: the best and most modern racket sports facility in the Capital Region! Of course, we are doing all we can to complete the project as quickly as possible.

It has been brought to our attention that some false and mean-spirited rumors are being spread about SPORTIME, including that the club is being sold and that the fire is some sort of insurance scam. We have no idea who would make up such rumors, or why, but just in case anybody has heard this nonsense, it is just that. As a reminder, the fire was caused by a collision between a utility truck and a power line, which caused an electrical surge and explosive fire in our server room. There were no injuries, thankfully, other than to our club, but this has been a major challenge to our hard working Schenectady team. Anybody who witnessed the fire damage, or who has followed our unrelenting focus on the speed and quality of the repairs and renovations that have followed, would have no doubt about SPORTIME's 100% commitment to our Schenectady site. Our focus on being the racket sports leader in the Capital Region remains unwavering. We have attached some before and after images of the damage and of the current status of the restoration work at the bottom of this message.

Below, please find an update on recent and ongoing project elements, with estimated completion dates:

  • Hard court tennis building: COMPLETE
  • Dedicated pickleball court building: COMPLETE
  • Newly installed electrical wiring, HVAC units, and plumbing system: COMPLETE
  • Clubhouse lower level office spaces, walls, and ceiling installation: COMPLETE
  • Clubhouse lower level main entrance and front desk check-in will reopen by the end of January
  • The floor tiling on the lower level will commence next week and the lobby traffic patterns may shift to accommodate sections of the flooring installation
  • Permanent furniture for the lobby and lounge spaces is on order
  • The staircase to access the second floor of the clubhouse will be completed by the end of January
  • The second floor mezzanine, lounge, and conference room will be completed by the end of January
  • Locker Rooms: Our goal is to have men's and women's locker rooms both completed by early March, but we will do whatever is possible to provide limited access to showers and other completed bathroom essentials as soon as they are functional, even if we are still waiting on the arrival of lockers or other furnishings

We further want to share that while SPORTIME members at our other clubs will be getting a modest membership dues increase as of January 1, 2024, our Schenectady members will not, and will continue to pay reduced, 50% dues. We are not going to raise member dues for our Schenectady members at this time, while you are enduring the dust of our reconstruction project. When the club is complete, with all member amenities fully accessible, dues will be restored to 100%. At some point after that, we will pass along the increase that others are receiving now, only SPORTIME's second dues increase in the last 15 years, the essential revenue from which will allow us to keep our commitments to our employees and members in the face of the most dramatic inflationary period in recent history. Again, we thank you, in advance, for your understanding and continuing loyalty.

We wish you and yours a peaceful and healthy 2024. As always, please feel free to reach out to any member of our team for assistance of any kind. We are here to help!

Sincerely,

Claude Okin  
President and Chief Executive Officer  
SPORTIME Clubs  
cokin@sportimeny.com

Carlos Campo  
Managing Director  
SPORTIME Westchester and Capital Region  
ccampo@sportimeny.com  
(914) 777-5151

Sarah Sharpe  
General Manager  
SPORTIME Schenectady  
ssharpe@sportimeny.com  
(518) 356-0100