Missouri Athletic Club: The City Club Success Story of the Year
Many people might think that the city athletic clubs of yesterday have become a bygone concept—but surprisingly, many have adjusted to become one of the best club options for members and their families.
One of the most successful city athletic clubs in the nation is the Missouri Athletic Club (MAC) in St. Louis, Mo. After more than 120 years, the MAC remains the only full-service club serving men, women and families in the St. Louis area, having extended its reach to stretch beyond the city of St. Louis and now include suburban counties including Jefferson and St. Charles, as well as counties in southern Illinois.
The MAC’s original downtown club served the heart of the St. Louis business community as an athletic and business club for men. Its 14-story, classic clubhouse, built in 1916, includes space for dining, ballrooms, an overnight hotel, and extensive athletic facilities for basketball, swimming, squash, handball, racquetball, fitness and a sunbathing roof.
But today, the actual St. Louis city area has become the smallest contributor to the MAC’s membership. Normally, the decline of the city’s population, from 900,000 people at one time to under 300,000 today, would have brought about the MAC’s demise, as it did for many other clubs in downtown St. Louis like the Noonday Club, Media Club and Stadium Club.
But the MAC was wise enough to strategically add suburban club facilities in St. Louis’ surrounding counties. It first did so with a major family-recreation club facility in the western suburb of Town & Country 25 years ago, and now it is opening a new club location in Clayton, the county seat of St. Louis County that is the center for residential life in the region. Its three locations are further complemented by reciprocal arrangements with four golf clubs in the region that are offered to MAC members.
By taking these steps, the MAC continues to prosper as the St. Louis area’s most important private club, mirroring the success of four other noted city clubs—the Detroit Athletic Club, New York Athletic Club, The Union League of Philadelphia and the Jonathan Club in Los Angeles—that provide their members with multiple locations and reciprocal arrangements. As such, the MAC has become a major contributor to the success of the St. Louis region.
Management and Leadership Make It Happen
Much of the MAC’s success can be attributed to some very fine managers who helped to steer the club through some very trying times. The real contributors in assuring the 100+ years of MAC prosperity have been the club’s legendary manager for 25 years Larry Thompson, ECM; talented Wally Smith, and today’s visionary General Manager/COO, Donald “Chip” Misch. CCM. No other city athletic club in the country has had to face the challenges and serious decline of its downtown area and reacted with such a broad vision to help save not only the club, but its city as well.
Today’s Missouri Athletic Club still has its original, well-maintained downtown clubhouse, its extensive family-recreation county clubhouse, and its soon-to-open suburban dining-club location in the new heart of the St. Louis region. We offer our congratulations to the Boards, management and members who are making it all happen. This shows how important clubs are for a city’s success.
About Bill McMahon, Sr. AIA, OAA
Bill is a strategic, financial and architectural planning consultant to clubs throughout North America. He established McMahon Group in 1983 as an affiliate of the family architectural firm his grandfather founded in 1906. Over the ensuing years, the firm has expanded its club consulting services beyond clubhouse improvement planning to a full range of services for all aspects of private club challenges. To date, the firm has assisted more than 2,000 private clubs across the United States, Canada, Asia, Europe and the Caribbean. McMahon Group provides a unique approach to developing club facility projects first establishing design and financial feasibility so membership approval is achieved. Thereafter final design and construction firms are selected to build the member approved project.
Mr. McMahon is unique among club consultants in providing an integrated strategic, financial and architectural approach to solving club problems. His personal involvement with his own clubs in St. Louis (serving in the roles of president, board member and committee member) has allowed him to bring unparalleled experience to each client. Mr. McMahon’s club memberships have included Bellerive Country Club (St. Louis), Racquet Club Ladue (St. Louis), University Club of St. Louis, Spring Lake Yacht Club (Michigan) and the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania.
Mr. McMahon is a graduate of Washington University School of Architecture in St. Louis and holds architecture licenses in 44 U.S. states and in Ontario, Canada. He is a featured author in industry publications and a featured speaker at the annual conferences of the Club Managers Association of America, the Canadian Society of Club Managers, the National Club Association and the Hospitality, Financial and Technology Professionals. He serves as a visiting lecturer at continuing education sessions offered by regional CMAA chapters and at Michigan State University. Bill is a co-author of McMahon Club Trends®, the comprehensive research reports on strategic issues facing private clubs published with the National Club Association. He is also founder of the Excellence in Club Management Award.
Mr. McMahon is a member of the American Institute of Architects, and the National Club Association. He is a former president of the Missouri Council of Architects, AIA and has served on various charitable boards in the St. Louis area.
