12 People You Need to Know in 2016: John McQueary

John McQueary grew up downtown.

Not literally, but almost. The family business sat at Olive Street and Market Avenue, and McQueary visited many times as a kid. While the business eventually moved, his fondness for downtown didn’t budge.

So, when McQueary wanted to delve into downtown revitalization, developing Springfield’s first boutique hotel was the choice. It was not, however, the result of a grand plan.

When McQueary graduated college, he spent a few years in freelance Web design before joining his family’s, McQueary Brothers Drug Co., a regional drug wholesaler. McQueary and brother Billy worked in information technology updating outdated systems.

In 2008, McKesson Corp. acquired McQueary Brothers. It was a wrenching decision for the family owned company founded in 1924, but it was the correct one, McQueary says. The deal finalized as the economy crashed.

McQueary and his brother then formed Function Fifteen Software. But after a few years, McQueary wasn’t enjoying computer programming as much. What does a restless 30-something do? Overhaul a 1906 building for a niche hotel, of course.

“I’m still trying to figure out how we got to point A and point B,” he admits.

McQueary – with wife Karen and Billy – chose a boutique hotel, because it’s the kind of place they like and Springfield didn’t have one. The Vandivort’s access to parking was a big draw, and it didn’t hurt that the building was another childhood memory.

“Billy and I actually spent a lot of time in the Vandivort building,” he says. “My sister took ballet for 15 years, and my brother and I would walk her up.”

Converting the building – named years ago for Francis Vandivort, a long time Springfield Little Theatre volunteer – was quite an undertaking for first-timers, but lack of experience allowed for unconventional thinking.

“We entered this project as consumers more than anything, so we hadn’t been in the business long enough to be boxed in,” McQueary says. “It’s a perfect place to be.”

The goal was an inviting locale for both locals and visitors, whether that’s a social space or The Order restaurant and bar.

“What we’re hoping we’re spurring is helping downtown grow up a little bit,” McQueary says of the $13 million renovation.

“I think we have plenty of college bars and restaurants. Now that my wife and I are growing out of that, we want a place to hang out.”

It’s working. Hotel Vandivort just achieved AAA’s elite Four Diamond rating, the first in Springfield.

“I feel like the vision we were after came to fruition, and people seem to be embracing it, which is really rewarding,” McQueary says. “It’s fun seeing that place come alive. We had our ideas about how the space would work, but at some point you have to let the space come alive.”