It's finally here, the Grand Opening..
..finally stepped into the brand new LABC facility.
My initial and last impression: truly a reflection of a lot of hard work, planning, dedication and love of the sport. A very nice & tempting place to play, indeed.
I can imagine the same feeling, of a brand new badminton hall, when OCBC first opened abt 15 yrs ago.
* I was told, many young folks stayed overnight, the night prior to the grand opening, just to be one of the very few to sign up and get the special promotion.
I chatted briefly with the owner and another friend who oversaw the project.
Simply put, the owner really shows his true love for the sport by putting the best available resources he could get (even to the tiny details) and by providing the best badminton facility out there. He admitted, he doesn't expect much in return, but he's doing this so the people who play really get to enjoy the experience & leave with the most pleasant impression.
A few minor corrections on what i posted earlier (in another thread):
- Total sq. footage of playing area : 23,000 sq. ft.
- 2nd & 3rd floors : 2,500 sq. ft. each
- Ceiling height, floor to finish ceiling: 50 ft. To the joist: 40 ft.
- Fully Air Conditioned and with Heating system.
- Total construction cost: close to $10 mil. (7 yrs to complete).
- Seating area: 3000 people (more than OCBC). Will be installed in a few months.
- They will have 15 courts for regular club play. But will use another 6 sets of courts when there are special tournaments.
Each Yonex court costs about $10,000 each. They will have full Yonex mat coverage throughout the entire playing floor.
- There will be card (swipe) machines for queueing system, both next to the playing area as well as in the entrance area. LABC will be the 1st one to use such queue system in SoCal.
Btw, for those wondering about why they haven't updated the website, one of the front desk personnel told me that the official page is actually on facebook.com. So, all pertinent updates/news would be updated there:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/El-Monte-CA/Los-Angeles-Badminton-Club-LABC/265747717668?v=wall
Here are some exterior pics, i took earlier:
Front of the building
Looking West
Looking at the entrance
Looking West (at the future commercial spaces) and parking area
