Badminton & Tennis Club
Hemenway St, Boston MA
Historic Commercial Residential Foundation Modular Other Structure
The Badminton & Tennis club is Located in the Back Bay Neighborhood of Boston. It is a Tudor Revivalist structure built in the late 1890s and is part of the rich history of Boston. The BTC was designed by Willard T Sears, most famously known for designing the Isabella Stuart Gardener Museum and Old South Church located on Boylston St in Copley Square . The building was originally The New Riding Club of Boston. In 1939 The Badminton & Tennis Club bought the building and converted it into the tennis club.
Frank was originally called in by LEDA Management, who had been hired by the club to do several updates to the facilities. Concerned by the age of the building LEDA asked Frank to assist with an overall assessment of the building to ensure the updates would not put the structure at risk. Frank was then asked to assist in the development of programs for maintaining the various systems throughout the building.
In his assessment Frank found several issues of concern. He found that the beam supporting the ladies bathroom and locker rooms had significant sagging as well as cracking and checking. Frank also found that in order to increase egress capacity a new fire escape was needed. Frank is currently working with BTC and LEDA Management to provide the additional egress.
To correct the beam supporting the ladies room, Frank designed a frame to give the floor the additional support it needed. Lag bolts were installed into the beam itself to prevent any further cracking or checking. This ensured that not only was the floor was more supported and able to take the weight of the work done to update the bathroom and locker rooms, but it also ensured that the beam could remain in place without deteriorating further.
To resolve questions of settlement and maintenance of the court surfaces in the building, Frank oversaw the process of soil boring, drawing samples from below the tennis courts. These samples are currently being assessed to ensure the functionality and future improvement of the courts’ surfaces.
