The halls of the Hyatt Centre will again be alive with the thwack of squash balls thanks to a plan by Squash WA to bring the centre’s squash courts back to life.
The nine squash courts in East Perth have been unused for the past nine years because the Hyatt Centre’s management could not find somebody to take them on.
One barrier to securing prospective court managers has been the large amount of office space that comes attached to the courts.
Squash WA general manager Andrew Stanbury said instead of being a burden, that office space would be handy to an organisation such as Squash WA, which would be making the courts its headquarters.
Those courts would also be a key part of Squash WA’s plan to breathe new life into the sport.
Mr Stanbury said Squash WA aimed to use its CBD address to coax business people back into the sport.
“We will be the only centre in the CBD with more than four squash courts,” he said.
“We want to sell things such as events, social competitions, corporate days and membership generally for the corporate market.”
Part of the organisation’s plan is to convert one of the nine courts into a recreation area and gym space.
Ideally that gym space could become the base for a personal trainer or a group of personal trainers, Mr Stanbury said.
When finished the centre will boast eight glass-backed, fully renovated, air-conditioned courts.
Besides the corporate market there is also the growing residential area around East Perth for Squash WA to target.
Mr Stanbury said Squash WA was looking for sports-related businesses such as sports masseurs or physiotherapists to take over some of the office space in the centre.
Continuing the corporate theme, the Hyatt Centre courts will be run by two former bankers.
Mr Stanbury is a former investment banker from London and Squash WA has hired another former banker, Donald Huffer, as the centre’s operations manager.
