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John Q. Hammons stands outside the $32 million Hammons Field in August 2004. Hammons built the field to attract the St. Louis Cardinals' Double-A affiliate.
John Q. Hammons stands outside the $32 million Hammons Field in August 2004. Hammons built the field to attract the St. Louis Cardinals' Double-A affiliate.

'The Classic Entrepreneur'

Posted online
Springfield business icon and philanthropist John Q. Hammons died May 26 at his residence at the Manor at Elfindale, and has been buried in a private ceremony. He was 94.

The founder of John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts developed 210 hotel properties in 40 states throughout his 50-plus year lodging career.

JQH Hotels CEO Jacquie Dowdy did not respond to requests for an interview.

Hammons, a former junior high school teacher and Springfield-area real estate developer, began his career in the hotel industry in 1958 when he worked with Roy Winegardner to purchase their first 10 properties under the Holiday Inn franchise. Winegardner & Hammons would construct nearly three dozen Holiday Inns before Hammons formed JQH Hotels in 1969. Today, the company manages 78 hotels with brands including Embassy Suites, Marriott, Radisson and Holiday Inn, and employs more than 8,500 associates in 24 states.

Although his given name is James Quentin, Hammons became known as “John Q.” after introducing himself to city leaders as such throughout his development career in an effort to convey he was representing the interest of the general public.

In Springfield, Hammons is known for developing or partnering on projects including Southern Hills, Country Club Plaza, Glen Isle Shopping Center and Brentwood South. His company developed the 22-story Hammons Tower, the tallest building in Springfield, and Hammons is widely credited with bringing the St. Louis Double-A affiliate to town after building the $32 million Hammons Field downtown.

Jim Anderson, Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce president, said Hammons did much to revitalize downtown Springfield, including donating the land for the Springfield chamber’s offices.

“His legacy is the accomplishment and achievement that he realized. He lived his passion. His passion was building communities. His passion was supporting higher education and sports,” Anderson said. “Not everyone goes to their grave having lived their passion, but he did.”

While Hammons’ legacy lives on, the later days of his lengthy career are shrouded in some turmoil.

In 2010, hotel-veteran Dowdy took over daily operations as CEO while Hammons fought multiple cardiovascular, lung and pulmonary disorders. Dowdy taking the reins led to a 2012 lawsuit filed by Atrium TRS LLC and affiliates, which claimed Dowdy violated a management contract by appointing herself to the company’s top post.

JQH Hotels Senior Vice President and General Counsel Gregg Groves said the suit has yet to be resolved, and declined to comment further. Atrium, led by principal Jonathan Eilian, in 2005 entered a minority shareholder buyout of $132 million in JQH Hotels stock, effectively privatizing the once-public company, according to Springfield Business Journal archives.

Hammons’ move to Elfindale also was scrutinized, as it led to a petition brought by several friends of the hotelier, who were concerned about his private seclusion. The issues appeared to be resolved in May 2011, when a Greene County probate judge appointed Dr. James Coulter as Hammons’ legal guardian, though Groves acknowledged the case has not been formally closed.

“There’s no reason for that litigation to continue,” Groves said.

As for company operations, Groves said Hammons’ death is not expected to impact the business. Hammons’ interest in the company remains with a trust the hotelier established years ago, according to the attorney.

Hammons also was widely known for his philanthropy.

Starting in the mid-1970s, Hammons helped his alma mater, Missouri State University, develop one of the school’s key athletic venues, Hammons Student Center. He also donated funds for the construction of Juanita K. Hammons Hall for the Performing Arts, named after his wife of 64 years, and he gifted $30 million to the school for the 11,000-seat JQH Arena, which opened in 2008.

Brent Dunn, executive director of the MSU Foundation, said Hammons donated about $50 million to the university during the course of his life.

“He has had a major impact on our school,” Dunn said. “Not all schools have that type of benefactor.”

Dunn said Hammons’ $30 million gift for the construction of JQH Arena remains the largest donation in school history.

Phill Burgess, vice president of sales and revenue management for JQH Hotels & Resorts, described Hammons as highly competitive and a lover of sports. He said Hammons was fond of mixing business and sports metaphors in his training and personnel development.

“He was like a coach. Coaches push their teams, but then they always find that way to encourage you,” Burgess said, adding he’d often talk about his high standards and his plans for development before asking for a commitment from his staff. “He loved basketball. That was his favorite sport. I’ve watched games with him before, and if a team got a fast break and they missed the layup or the other team was able to deflect the ball, he would always say, ‘Well, they weren’t committed. You’ve got to commit and trust each other.’ That was how he ran things.”

While Hammons’ career has some recent failures including shelved plans for a $92 million, 300-room Colorado Springs, Colo., conference hotel and for a 240-room Embassy Suites next to the Springfield Expo Center, Anderson said most of Hammons’ risks paid off.

“He had failures, but he had a lot more successes than he had failures. He was a risk taker. He was a classic entrepreneur,” Anderson said. “Not unlike Sam Walton who focused on rural America, Mr. Hammons always focused on second-tier cities, capital cities and university cities. He felt like they had been overlooked by investors, and, of course, that’s where he found most of his success.”[[In-content Ad]]

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