Katrina Utz, MPPA | Policy Advisor

Saint Louis County Department of Public Health

6121 N. Hanley Road | Berkeley | MO | 63134

Work Cell: (314) 749-5724

Kutz@stlouisco.com

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Friday, March 26, 2021

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Katrina, 

Please review the below information with your committee of advisors at your earliest convenience.

Creve Coeur Racquet Club is a Private Family Tennis and Swim Club. 

We have been owned by my family since 1968.

The property sits on 15 acres in the heart of Creve Coeur on Conway Road.

Our membership ranges from 1500 members to 2000 Before Covid. 

Many of our members are the third generation of families which makes our commitment to their safety a priority.

The property is owned and managed by myself, my wife, and my daughter.

We have been on site every day except Christmas of 2020 since March 19 of last year.

When the initial covid scare started our Club was very proactive in hand sanitizers at every court, every table and every common area.

We immediately started to stagger activities and reduce numbers. 

Signage for social distancing and mask-wearing was posted along with constant communications to our members thru letters and web information. 

When The County started allowing camps last summer we had a disciplined formula in place for the following:

• Registration and covid waiver signature online.

• Temp Checks before leaving the parking area.

• No guests or Spectators

• Masks for any staff or instructors with any activity more than one to one on a court.

• Plexi shields for all indoor entry points.

• Tracing for everyone who was indoor or outdoor by the hour.

• Staff training for sanitizing, safety measures including random testing, quarantines more strict than the county and CDC recommendations.

• Staff accountability for any negligence regarding covid symptoms and contact.

We superseded any regulations that were being recommended by the county state or CDC with stronger protocols.

From the beginning of last summer when indoor sports were allowed we had multiple protocols in place to enhance the safety of our facility.

 

The main indoor building (8 tennis courts) is 65,696 square feet. 2,048,288 cubic feet with a 45ft ceiling. 

Fully lit with Led Bulbs.

4 20 ton Ac Units 

2 Commercial 48 inch Exhaust Fans at Ceiling Peak. Run 24 hrs a day.

These units have run (Fan On) since April of last year so there is constant air movement even during the winter months when the building is heated by separate radiant gas heaters.

 

Our HVAC system is current and meets the ANSI/ASHRAE/ACCA Standard 180-2018.

Our HVAC system circulates 32,000 Cubic Feet per Minute on the main indoor courts.

Our HVAC system runs consistently to ensure maximum airflow.

Each court has a 100 ft by 8 ft Divider net installed to keep players from sharing courts with people other than their group.

Each court has score towers and court trays eliminated so no gathering or touching.

Each court has a bench with a large bottle of hand sanitizer at the net post.

Every day each bench is sanitized with a multi quat sanitizer or peroxide sanitizer.

All players are pre-registered for contact tracing, all players are temp checked before allowed in the court area, all players are required to wear a mask until play starts (Currently during play as well per signage on nets).

Players are requested to exit at a different door than entry.

No more than 5 People are allowed on a court surface of 100x 40ft.

All staff are required to wear a mask when teaching or instructing more than one person on a court surface of 100x40.

Six-foot distancing signs are located at every court bench as well as all walkways approaching indoor courts.

The above building never has more than 45 people in the entire space at one time.

Our second building which adjoins the above building is 150x150 with a 45 ft ceiling height.

2 20 Ton Ac units and 2 48 inch ceiling exhaust fans.

Completely lit with LED lights.

It has 2 tennis courts and 2 Pickleball Courts, Concession Stand and Gym Area.

All of the same protocols of the larger building are in place.

The gym area is 120 by 15 ft and is by pre-registration only. 

The gym area can only have 6 people per hour in the space and must be masked at all times.

The concession area is closed until occupancy limits are back to 100 percent.

The building has a separate viewing area behind windows that is 80 ft by 15 ft with seating for 24 people allowing an area away from courts for players to wait to eliminate crowding issues. 

A separate entrance and check-in with temp and registration check is part of the smaller building.

No more than 20 people are ever allowed in this building. (with up to 15 allowed in a separate waiting area)

In both buildings, the average amount of time on the court surface is 90 minutes with 3 other players from their own group.

Each building has Air Scrubbers installed in the HVAC systems as well as one for each locker room and one for the clubhouse area.

In addition to the two indoor playing surfaces described above, there is a Full-service Dining Room and Bar with indoor seating for 40 and Outdoor seating for 100 Plus.

The Kitchen and Full Dining Service has been kept closed until summer to limit members from gathering in the clubhouse socially and allowing for limited spectators who can remain in mask the majority of time with us.

We have substantial outdoor facilities including Paddle Tennis, Pickleball, Swimming, 11 more tennis courts and areas of Green Space with comfortable seating. 

Since Mar 19, 2020, the focus of my family has been to give people a safe comfortable environment to get exercise and some social connection. 

We have had months of dealing with profiling, protocols, quarantines, waivers, signage to be the best in the industry and set the bar for safety to our members.

We want to continue to be the best and have diligently abided by the current health order while our members become very disgruntled knowing we are one of few who are in compliance.

I have viewed information from all over the country. I have been in control of My Club as well as running Dwight Davis Tennis Center in Forest Park all thru last years Covid with no direct correlation to a spreader.

During the peak of holidays and high numbers, we wanted to help be part of the solution and continued to push for more safety including masks during play.

 

We now have no facts or information that convinces us that there is a need for people playing tennis indoors to wear a mask unless they desire to do so.

 

I implore you to consider how hard we have worked with the County and on our own to set the bar for safety and wellness for our members and guests for the last 11 and half months.

 

We know that we can be much more effective with common area masking, hand washing and sanitizing, and social distancing if we are not dealing with combative players who are raged because of mask requirements while playing.

We strongly believe that these protocols will bear more positive benefits than players wearing a mask on their neck and getting into confrontations.

Please advise if you would like photos or more documentation of anything we are doing. Our Website is ccrctennis.com. There are pictures of the property and many of our protocols and updated protocols listed.

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Dan Apted

Owner

Creve Coeur Racquet Club