Clary pairs with The Tower Club

For veteran chef and restaurateur James Clary, running The Tower Club is something of a homecoming.

Growing up, Clary lived two blocks from hotelier John Q. Hammons, developer of the private club atop Hammons Tower. Clary’s first job was at the former Ebenezer’s restaurant on East Sunshine, which Hammons co-owned, and the first lease he signed for Clary’s American Grill was in the Hammons-owned Southern Hills Shopping Center.

On April 3, Clary was named general manager of The Tower Club of Springfield Inc. on the 21st and 22nd floors of Hammons Tower. Clary manages Executive Chef Brad Lyons and Pastry Chef Victor Pace, high school friends from Glendale who all worked together at Ebenezer’s.

“The synchronicities of this thing are too weird,” Clary said.

Clary and Phill Burgess, vice president of marketing for John Q. Hammons Industries, which operates The Tower Club, said the move coincides with the company’s plans to spend up to $500,000 in renovations at the venue during the next two years.

“It is time to reinvent it. I think they’ve done a good job all along, but we want to give the overall club a facelift,” Clary said of the 26-year-old private club with 400 members that also provides banquet services to the public.

He plans to rewrite the menu to include favorites from Clary’s and to train the staff to provide a heightened level of service.

“We want to be a restaurant for those who are accustomed to special attention. That was my motto at Clary’s, and it is now the motto at The Tower Club,” said Clary, who also spent time running Springfield restaurants Fish and Gallery Bistro during his career.

Burgess, a former frequent diner at Clary’s, said though Clary has served as a consultant for the club in the past, discussions began in earnest about two weeks ago after the chef left his post as culinary director for Price Cutter on March 12. Price Cutter CEO Erick Taylor said two chefs have replaced Clary, and are focused on increasing the catering side of the business.

“It was one of the finest restaurants in the city,” Burgess said of Clary’s restaurant. “Everybody loved it, and to be able to bring Clary’s back, and his personality, and his passion, to the tower is phenomenal.”

Clary succeeds Shelby Williams, who worked in the role for four months following Jeff Anderson, a 22-year veteran of the position. Burgess, who is also vice president of sales and revenue management for John Q. Hammons Hotels and Resorts, said Williams would remain with the company, but his position has yet to be determined.

Clary said renovations would be performed in stages of up to $50,000 each in order to keep the club open. He said the building, built in 1987, was structurally sound, but its brass and beige decor needs to be updated. Burgess said The Tower Club was last remodeled about 12 years ago, and the company has not yet selected the contractor or design firms for the plans.

Brimming with ideas, Clary said he plans to take his management staff to several fine dining restaurants in Chicago to inspire them, and he also may sponsor a couple of trips per year for club members.

In addition to renovations, Clary and Burgess said the $300 annual membership would now be payable in monthly installments, a move Clary hopes to attract an up-and-coming crowd.

Within two years, Burgess said management expects the combination of renovations and Clary’s addition to double Tower Club revenues, which sit at about $500,000 per year from the private club and roughly $1 million a year in banquet services. Revenues are down nearly 5 percent compared to levels three years ago, Burgess said.

Renovation plans for University Plaza Hotel across the street have recently been upgraded, Burgess said, under the direction of JQH Hotels CEO Jacquie Dowdy because she wants what Clary wants at the Tower Club, a first-class remodel.  

“That was a $2 million renovation; it’s now $3 million because she said, ‘I want it done right,’” Burgess said. “She likes (Clary); he has a way of talking people into stuff, and so I think whatever it takes to make this nice, he’s going to get it.”

The renovations at University Plaza also accompany a change in leadership. Last month, General Manager Robert Henley stepped down after one year in the position and eight years with JQH Hotels to become general manager of Norfolk (Va.) Waterside Marriott, a hotel owned by TPG Hospitality. Burgess said JQH is conducting a nationwide search for a successor and should have someone in place by June 1. Michael Bloom, general manager of the company’s Holiday Inn North in Springfield, is working as interim general manager.

Clary said he is in the right place at the right time to forward Hammons’ original ideas for a private dining club. Hammons, 94, stepped down from his role as CEO of JQH Hotels and associated companies in October 2010, citing health concerns and moving into The Manor at Elfindale skilled nursing center.

“Jacquie is really trying to carry out his vision, and I really think I’m the guy to do it,” Clary said. “I’m the one person available in Springfield right now to create the revenue and sales and sense of excitement this place needs.”

Springfield Business Journal Web Editor Geoff Pickle contributed to this story.