Tennis Dome Collapses at QOSTC in Gaithersburg
The tennis dome at Quince Orchard Swim and Tennis Club (QOSTC) on Roundabout Drive in Gaithersburg collapsed on Saturday afternoon during the blizzard.
The club’s executive director notified members of the “devastating” collapse in an email on Sunday night.
“With sadness I wanted to let you know that our Tennis Dome, despite our best preparation efforts and an eight man storm team on site, 24/7, throughout the blizzard, collapsed on Saturday afternoon in the height of the storm,” wrote Tim Harvey. “That being said we are awaiting a detailed damage assessment in the next few days which will provide us options for moving forward.”
According to Harvey’s note, there are over a dozen clubs in the area reporting storm damage.
Harvey also shared some good news. He said the Quince Orchard Club’s Swim Dome survived the historic storm.
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- Tennis Dome at QOSTC
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- Tennis Dome at QOSTC
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- Tennis Dome at QOSTC
Good Evening To All, With sadness I wanted to let you know that our Tennis Dome, despite our best preparation… https://t.co/0RA9vgub0o
— QO Swim & Tennis (@QOSTC) January 25, 2016
The smart thing to do would have been to deflate the bubble before the storm since we were expected to get over 2 feet of snow. There was just way too much snow and to think a bubble could withstand that kind of weight was pretty naive. I play tennis in a bubble in the winter and if they know we are going to get a lot of snow or very high winds, they will deflate the bubble so it will not be damaged. Now, Quince Orchard will have to repair or even replace the bubble along with all the hanging lights that were probably destroyed when it collapsed because someone decided to leave the bubble up.