Squash: Logan Park club keen to move with the times

Squash Otago executive officer Aynsley Munro at the Logan Park squash courts. Photo by Gregor Richardson.
Squash Otago executive officer Aynsley Munro at the Logan Park squash courts. Photo by Gregor Richardson.
There is no truth to the rumour that the Logan Park Squash Club is pulling the pin.

It wants to be part of the proposed multisport complex at the ground.

An unnamed source told the Otago Daily Times the club might consider folding, but investigations have found this to be untrue.

Squash Otago has its headquarters in the Logan Park club's building and the two entities are expected to stick together when the new complex is completed.

Squash Otago board member Stuart Hammer, who has negotiated with the Dunedin City Council for the past seven years, told the Otago Daily Times yesterday "squash is passionate about the Logan Park redevelopment.

We want to be part of the multisport complex".

The Logan Park club has a special place in the future of Otago squash because it is the only "pay for play" complex in Dunedin.

"It will be an important facet for the new complex because it will be open for the public who want to play on a casual basis and not join a club," Hammer said.

Squash Otago executive officer Aynsley Munro said the Logan Park club was keen to join up with other sports at the new complex.

"The new complex will have movable walls that will make it easy to team up with sports like gymnastics, aerobics, indoor soccer and tennis," she said.

"In a multisport complex we will be able to share the changing rooms and the social facilities."

No date has been set for the redevelopment of Logan Park, and while the squash club facilities are in good condition, there are problems with the building.

"The building is rundown but we can't afford to put any more money into it. There needs to be work done on the changing rooms and the drainage," Munro said.

The squash club used to be part of the Bishopscourt complex, but when the Kaikorai Rugby Football Club revamped its facilities in 1992 there was no longer room for the squash club and it shifted to Logan Park.

At that time the club membership was 250, but the sport has experienced a drop in numbers, as most sports have, and the club now has 90 registered players.