Clock Tower renovations keep winding into future

With facility updates already under way, the Racquet Club has new name, ‘Forest City Tennis Center’, and new management

From press release

In 2007, the CoCo Key Water Resort was built; then, in 2008 and 2009, the hotel rooms and hallways were refurbished; then, the nationally-known, Celtic sports pub and eatery, Tilted Kilt, opened inside the Clock Tower Resort and Conference Center Dec 18, 2009. The following day, a memo was sent out to the members of the Racquet Club at Rockford’s Clock Tower Resort from College Park Athletic Club (CPAC) offices in Deerfield, Illinois.

In the memo, CPAC management stated, “We are excited to inform you that we have signed a multi-year lease of the Clock Tower Tennis Club and will begin managing the club on January 1, 2010.

“We have been in the tennis business for over 25 years with clubs in: Deerfield, IL (College Park Athletic Club): www.cpacweb.com; Elkhart, IN (Eastlake Athletic Club): www.eastlakemaplecity.com; Goshen, IN (Maple City Athletic Club): www.eastlakemaplecity.com; “Elkhorn, WI (Four Lakes Athletic Club): www.flaconline.com

“After being contacted by a group of Rockford tennis players through the United States Tennis Association (USTA), we have come to a mutually beneficial agreement with the Clock Tower Resort Management, led by General Manager Dwight Hopfauf. We look forward to working with the staff and members to develop the club into the premier tennis facility in Northern Illinois.

“Obviously, the window between signing the contract and taking over operations is very short, which is compounded by the timing of the holidays. However, we have already begun to work on upgrading the programs, the facility, and systems. We are excited to announce the hiring of Breck Schlueter as the Club Manager. As some of you may know, Breck grew up in Rockford, played high school tennis at Guilford High School, college tennis at Wheaton College, and is in the process of being USTA certified. Breck will be training at College Park Athletic Club for the next two weeks, starting full time at the club on Jan. 1, 2010. All other staff will remain in their current positions.

“We have already begun work on plans for updating the club. We also own a company called Sports Interiors, which is the largest renovator of tennis clubs in the country. We recently completed the interior work (lighting, ceiling system, etc.) on the indoor tennis center at the USTA site in Flushing Meadows, N.Y. We will also be installing a new club management system, which will allow member access to court sheets online, among a number of other convenient features.”

Clock Tower Marketing Director Wendi Howard said: “We are excited about our new relationship with CPAC and look forward to the upcoming improvements of the tennis facility. We are really looking forward to bringing more members from Rockford and the surrounding area to our new tennis center. We are really the only facility of this sort in the stateline area.”

The CPAC memo assured: “In the meantime, we will not be adjusting any membership, court, or class rates for the remainder of the 2009/2010 indoor season. It is our desire to use the remainder of the season to learn more about the club and find a membership structure that provides our members with a high-level facility. Going forward, memberships will no longer run on a calendar year but will run from September 1-August 31. All members will be notified in August 2010 regarding any membership or court rate changes.”

CPAC administrators are: Henry VanDixhorn, general partner; Jeff VanDixhorn, managing partner; and Brian Wu, general manager.

Besides the 60,000-plus square-feet of indoor water park, CoCo Key, other attractions of the Clock Tower Resort and Conference Center include the 10,000 square-foot Key Quest Video Arcade; the vegetarian and nouveau cuisine of the Sun Dial Restaurant & Bar; the full spa and customer-oriented Totally You Hair Salon, and the personal, environmental and commercial David Olson Photography studio.

For more information, visit www.cocokeywaterresort.com/rockford; www.totallyyouhairsalon.com; and www.davidolsonphoto.com.

From the Jan. 6-12, 2010 issue