No takers yet on $1.7 million Town Club building

A little more than three months after the Town Club closed, one of the more impressive and modern buildings on Garrison Avenue remains empty.

Sam T. Sicard, vice president of First National Bank of Fort Smith and member of the Central Business Improvement District Commission, said interest from prospective buyers has focused on using the building as a restaurant or converting the building into office space.

Then-Club Manager Engin Tuncay and Town Club board member Phil White confirmed Dec. 16, 2009, in a story first reported by The City Wire, that the Town Club would close no later than Jan. 31. Scheduling and inventory issues eventually forced the private restaurant, bar and meeting space to close Jan. 6. The operation had 10 full-time and 6 part-time employees when it closed.

White and Tuncay blamed poor economic conditions for the downturn in revenue that forced the club to close. White said societal and generational changes also resulted in fewer people seeing a benefit in club membership. He explained that when the Town Club first opened back in the late 1950s, it was one of the few places to get a nice meal with an alcoholic beverage.

The economic downturn and a glut of commercial space in the city are two factors making it difficult to sell a roughly 13,000-square-foot building with a $1.7 million price tag, Sicard said.

“It is tough right now to sell commercial (space). … But it is a unique building and we have hope. I’m somewhat optimistic that we’ll move it within the year,” Sicard said.

Sicard said economic conditions are tough in the metro area, but believes commercial activity in downtown Fort Smith has held up better than most would have thought.

“Once the recession is over, I think you’ll see more growth there (downtown) and it will be more vibrant in downtown Fort Smith,” Sicard predicted.