WATCH: 20-year-old squash centre closes its dilapidated doors
Broken fences, naked women and burnt courts - the owners say they couldn't do it anymore.
Kempton Park Squash Centre on Commissioner Street, which was founded in 1999, has closed its doors indefinitely.
According to the now former owners, Lorraine and Michael White, this comes after a 10-year wait for a lease renewal from the City of Ekurhuleni, and the dilapidated state of areas surrounding the club.
“We just decided we can’t do it anymore,” Lorraine said. She and her husband had since moved to the Eastern Cape.
“The area became terrible. Sewerage lines were blocked, our fence got damaged, naked women ran onto some of the courts, people used the courts as toilets, and someone even started a fire on a court. Police would come to chase people in the surrounding areas away, but they always came back.”
Furthermore, the White’s struggled for 10 years to have their lease renewed.
“When we noticed our lease was expiring, we submitted all the necessary paperwork to have it renewed, but nothing happened,” she said.
They waited for 10 years without news from the municipality.
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When Lorraine and Michael hosted their first tournament in 1999 in the club’s heyday, they had over 220 entries.
“We built that club up from having only 20 teams to 81 teams,” Lorraine said, saddened that the sport she and her husband worked so hard to promote no longer has a local platform.
According to Lorraine, Hoërskool Kempton Park was the last school to use the courts during their squash heats last week Wednesday.
“Schools like that are the ones who suffer the most. Where will they go now,” she asked, adding that all the club’s trophies were donated to the high school.
“It was sad to close down. My three grandchildren started playing squash on those courts and went on to play for South Africa, but we just couldn’t do it anymore,” Lorraine repeated about the club and its surroundings’ current state.
Express visited the centre on Wednesday, as the last few items were carried out. The courts where Kemptonians once played were empty and dark, with no idea when their lights will be switched on again.
The municipality failed to comment in time for print.
