Fred Streck, Early Racquetball and Sports Club Developer, and Co-Owner of CourtSouth, Passes Away
Posted: June 26, 2018 in Other News
Fred Streck
By: Norm Cates
Fred Streck was a one-in-a-million kind of guy. A former U.S. Army Pilot during the Vietnam War, Fred landed in Atlanta, Georgia in the mid-1970s. There, his entrepreneurial talents as a developer and owner of several very successful night clubs, “The Stone Pony” and “Xanadu Night Club,” lead the way and made Fred quite wealthy in the years before he became involved in the racquetball and sports club development and operation business, partnering with Rich Boggs, Ray Irwin and this author, Norm Cates.
Sadly, our friend and former partner, Fred Streck, passed away from an unconfirmed cause on Father’s Day, Sunday June 17th. A memorial event was held at the home of his daughter, Danielle, in Marietta, Georgia on June 30th.
It was a Wednesday night in early 1977 when Rich Boggs, Ray Irwin and I had gathered with our potential architect, Peter Hand, to discuss the creation and building of the first racquetball club in the Southeast. The only problem was that none of us had enough money to take on and complete this project. We were then introduced to Fred Streck by the bankers we were talking to about helping us finance our first racquetball club. All we had were ideas and energy, so needless to say that, when Fred Streck pulled into the driveway sitting in his crème color Rolls Royce Corniche Convertible, at Rich Boggs’ home in Dunwoody, we were all very excited, and to say the least, impressed.
At that time, what we had in hand was a set of blueprints for our first racquetball club, which was designed to be a 10-court club with locker rooms for men and women, each with steam baths, whirlpools and sauna rooms, plus a small workout room with only five Nautilus Machines, a few free weights and a couple of exercise bikes (This was shortly before Ray Wilson and Augie Nieto brought Lifecycle to the marketplace). The meeting that evening, in which we reviewed the blueprints for the proposed club and discussed the warehouse building we had found in which we wanted to build the club, owned by BoBo and Bennie Auerbach, lasted for about one hour.
Suddenly, without a partnership deal at all, Fred Streck said, “Okay, let’s make a deal! I want to be under construction on Friday Morning!” Shocked somewhat, since this was a Wednesday night, Boggs, Irwin and I all looked at each other and said, “Let’s do it!” Fred agreed to provide the balance of the funds we were going to need, and we were on our way! On that Friday morning at about 10 AM, I went to the warehouse on Delk Industrial Boulevard in Marietta, Georgia to check on what was going on, and low and behold, Fred had the side wall for the first racquetball court already eight feet high!
We immediately started pre-selling memberships, and we opened that first club on May 1, 1977 with 1,200 members, and by August, we had over 5,000 members and were expanding that club to 15 courts with a jogging track around the extra five courts. By the Fall of 1977, we had our second Atlanta club under construction in Sandy Springs shopping center with the retrofitting of a movie theater.
After opening Courthouse I, and as a team of four guys, we went on to build nine clubs in the Southeast. Early on, we changed the name from Courthouse I to CourtSouth, and we had four CourtSouth Clubs in Atlanta and five out-of-town clubs, all of which were franchises in Columbus, Georgia; Murfreesboro, Tennessee; Birmingham, Alabama; and Knoxville, Tennessee (2 locations). The four clubs in Atlanta were owned and operated by us four partners.
Our partnership lasted for four years, and on May 1, 1981, we went our separate ways. On that date, we took Rich Boggs’ leather cap that he always wore at that time (along with his beard), and in it, we placed four slips of paper, each with the name of each of our club locations. We drew the names from that hat, and in essence, fate took its course on that day. Rich drew the Sandy Springs location in which we had a partner, Larry Doyle, and because of that, Rich also got the franchise operation. Fred drew the 16-court Akers Mill location. Ray Irwin drew the original Courthouse I location, renamed CourtSouth in Marietta, then also with 15 courts and an indoor jogging track. And, I drew the Buckhead location, CourtSouth Lenox, which had 14 courts and was across the street from Neiman Marcus at Lenox Square Mall.
This former partnership of guys stayed friends over all these years, and we’re all mourning the loss of our former partner and friend, Fred Streck. We owe Fred a LOT! I think it would be very accurate to credit Fred Streck for the lifetime careers Rich Boggs, Ray Irwin and I, Norm Cates, have experienced and enjoyed because were it not for Fred Streck helping us get started in 1977, it’s entirely possible that none of us would have ever even been in this business in the first place.
I want to express our sincere condolences to Danielle Streck Musolf, and her brother, Carl Streck (Fred and his former wife, Stevie’s daughter and son) on the loss of their beloved Father, Fred Streck.
May Fred Rest In Peace.
