MidTown Athletic Clubs is a leader in upscale athletic club and sports resort management and is part of a larger company, TCA Holdings that owns a collection of first-class, family-oriented athletic clubs across North America. The objective at MidTown is to provide the best possible facilities, equipment, instruction and care available to the discriminating public.
MidTown Athletic Clubs are full-service facilities with all the amenities needed for a first-class experience including an unending supply of fresh, sanitary, soft and fluffy towels for every visitor. With environmental protection and climate change on everyone’s mind, TCA started looking for ways to limit their clubs’ impact on the environment. In early 2006, TCA contacted Water Energy to learn more about our Green Laundry Systems and how they could reduce the enormous amount of water and energy used to clean and sanitize the large volume of towels used at each of their clubs every day.
Water Energy began working with TCA to demonstrate the effectiveness of our ozone laundry systems in August, 2006 at the MidTown Club Chicago. We installed our ozone laundry demo unit at this club and after 3 months of daily use, the staff was completely convinced that the Water Energy Ozone Laundry System achieved all of their housekeeping objectives and met all of their quality control benchmarks. Our Ozone Laundry System had allowed them to completely eliminate hot water from the washroom and still provide a superior finished product. Without any hot water, the washroom environment was greatly improved – no more heat and steam coming from the washers and heating-up the washroom. Washroom employees were no longer pulling scalding-hot towels from the washers and risking injury. With ozone’s exceptional sanitizing power, the possibility of drug-resistant organisms including clostridium difficile and MRSA staph being on any of the towels had been eliminated. Our ozone systems greatly reduce chemical use in the laundry and virtually eliminate chemical residues in the finished fabrics. All of the club’s towels were fluffy, sweet-smelling and free of chemical residues!
With this success, TCA purchased a Water Energy Ozone Laundry System for the TCA club in Montreal, Canada – le Sporting Club du Sanctuaire. This club processes approximately 2,500 pounds of towels each day on a continuous basis year-round. We installed an ozone system at the club in January, 2006 and after the first year of operation, the club has determined they saved over $26,000 in gas charges alone. The washroom environment has been greatly improved because of the elimination of all hot water and many of the chemicals. Wash cycles and drying times are shorter which accelerates the workflow and that equates to a shorter day for the housekeeping crew (and reduced labor costs for the club). The Housekeeping Director is extremely happy with the quality of her finished product and with the greatly reduced costs associated with her department. All in all, the Water Energy Ozone Laundry System installed at le Sporting Club du Sancturaire has been an overwhelming success! The Housekeeping Director is Ms. Anayiz Merlet-Noel. If you’re really interested, call her and ask her what she thinks of their Water Energy Ozone Laundry System for yourself.
Photos / Downloads
Mid Town Tennis Club of Montreal Laundry Layout Design (91.0 KiB)
More about TCA Holdings
TCA Holdings started as Tennis Corporation of America (TCA) in 1969 when Alan Schwartz and his father Kevie built the World’s largest indoor tennis facility. Tennis was Alan’s great passion and he had won multiple state and national titles. He and Kevie often played together, even winning the Chicago Father and Son Tennis Championship. They collaborated to build Chicago’s Midtown Tennis Club, which Billie Jean King refers to as “the benchmark against which all tennis clubs should be measured.” Midtown improved the quality of the game through adjustments in lighting and spacing. Kevie, a successful chemist, developed Tennis Turf®, a new surface that could cushion the body while offering a true tennis bounce.
Despite all of these innovations, what really set Midtown apart was the commitment to actively creating and teaching tennis players, not just selling memberships and court time. Alan made this perfectly clear, saying, “We love the game of tennis. We want everyone in the whole world to play tennis. We are going to create beginners.” That love translated into success, and Midtown began opening new clubs in the Chicago area, upstate New York, Boston, southern Indiana and Kansas City. These were more than just tennis clubs. TCA wanted to create a place where members connect with associates and each other; a place where people feel a sense of comfort and friendship. TCA Clubs were committed to improving every player’s game, offering lessons for every level and constant personal improvement ? a deep dive for tennis enthusiasts. TCA created recognized teaching programs, such as Tennis in No Time®, currently licensed to the United States Tennis Association, and TenniSchools®.
As members’ interests expanded, TCA responded by adding fitness centers and other sports to the clubs. Beginning in 1980 in Rochester, New York, TCA redefined the health club. Alan wanted these clubs to be an extension of Midtown’s original philosophies, noting that, “We wanted the same rich experience for our fitness centers that our tennis players had come to expect.” Each club carries the same commitment to personal improvement, no matter the activity. Like the original Midtown, they are comfortable places that foster real connections between members and associates.
With TCA’s commitment to personal growth, achieving results and social connection, these award-winning clubs set a new standard for sports and fitness in a healthy social environment. Many TCA clubs have integrated physical therapy centers operated by local leaders in their field, such as Athletico, SportsCare, ViaHealth and Henry Ford.