After being a staple in downtown Jackson for more than 36 years, a place where business deals were birthed, nurtured and implemented, a place where weddings were celebrated and special events were held, ClubCorp, the parent company to the University Club of Jackson, said the doors to the popular establishment would close Dec. 31.
In a meeting with boards members of the University Club last week, Joel Jaffe, regional vice president of operations for ClubCorp told members that he would take their advisement about ways to keep the club open back to his boss and that corporate officials would make a final decision.
Leroy Walker, a local businessman in Jackson was one of the board members present. “We wanted to make sure he and the rest of the decision makers knew how much we wanted to keep this club opened…how important this club is to Jackson,” said Walker via phone. “We presented several alternatives and suggestions on ways to generate revenue and to recreate the spark that the club has held in this city and quite frankly across this state.”
Monica Thompson, interim club manager told The Mississippi Link there were several factors as best as she could determine that led to the owners making this decision. “Business at the club dropped when other tenants in the building moved, and we had a decline in membership,” Thompson said. “When I started working here we had more than 1,200 members now based on a rough estimate we have a little over 500.”
Board Chairman Howard Catchings said this caught him and all of the board members off guard. “This was a real shocker to me, we knew membership was down but I was under the impression that things were progressing well and that corporate was committed to helping us do what it takes to help the club survive,” Catchings said last week. “I am hopeful that when we meet again he (Jaffe) will have good news for us, right now I don’t know.”
In the end, no board attempts proved to be enough to keep the doors opened.
Jaffe told The Mississippi Link last week no official decision had been made. When contacted three days later, he issued the following statement:
“The University Club, a member of ClubCorp family of clubs, has informed its landlord, University Club board of governors, members and employees that the University Club located in the Regions Bank Building will cease operations on Dec. 31.
The closing comes 36 years after the club opening and in spite of several years of earnest efforts by all involved to increase membership and club usage to keep pace with the rising cost of operations during difficult economic times.
Club Management is working with members to relocate their privileges to other ClubCorp Clubs and with its employees to identify other employment opportunities.”
John Hardy, former University Club general manager, who retired from the company last month to create a venture of his own in West Jackson, said he was sad to learn that the club was closing. “I was very sad to hear that the club was closing…I spent more than 30 years there and worked hard to keep the club afloat and to help it keep up with the changing trends,” he said. “Despite economic hardships, when I left, we were ahead of budget.”
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