Petroleum Club In Danger Of Closing

[Conan71]

Chuck Sullivan doesn't mince words - if the Petroleum Club doesn't get an infusion of $250,000 by next week, it will close.

"This is our last effort to get the word out to the Tulsa community that we're in trouble," he said.

Sullivan, president of the 60 year-old club formed as a gathering place for people who work in the oil and gas industry, said it is in dire straits. The organization is losing $20,000 to $30,000 each month and membership has dropped in half to 417 over the last 18 months, he said.

He presented the rough situation to the club's membership during a special annual meeting last week.

Sullivan said the board will meet again Tuesday to assess the situation. If the club is unable to meet its financial goal by the end of the month - two days later - the board will likely move to dissolve the club.

In fact, the Petroleum Club recently began turning down requests to rent its facilities for weddings or other events, Sullivan said, since officials cannot in good conscience make commitments when they aren't sure the club will still be around.

Although Sullivan said the organization "has been in trouble for a while," he's hopeful it still has enough support among current and former members to pull through.

"I've been getting a lot of phone calls from all over after the meeting," he said. "I just got a call from a lady in Michigan who couldn't believe that the club could close."

Sullivan said the problems are rooted in the deterioration of the club's food services, management and overall membership experience during the last decade at its facilities, located atop of the Petroleum Club Building at 601 S. Boulder Ave.

"I don't put this at the feet of anyone else besides the boards of directors we've had over the last 10 years," he said. "We didn't pay attention to the red flags and the signals that were out there."

The past three years have been especially rough for the club, as the recession cut membership, some longtime members retired and remaining members were unable to recruit many new people.

With finances strained after a net loss of $215,925 in 2010, the board chose to charge all members an assessment fee of more than $800, which only made matters worse, Sullivan said.

"Then, we lost the other half of the members," he said. "We no longer have any captain companies from the energy industry as members, which is telling."

Realizing the club was in trouble, the board moved to hire Post Oak Lodge to become its managing partner.

"Had they not come in, we would have closed already," Sullivan said.

Club officials and Post Oak replaced the general manager, chef, events director and membership director.

The club has retrained the rest of the staff, developed new casual and dinner menus, cleaned the furniture, added a new pool table donated by a member and restocked the cigars in the smoking lounge.

Club officials also put on hold their plans to move to the top of First Place Tower.

Sullivan said the changes have been well-received, but the club still has a problem with members under-using the facilities.

In addition to the cash infusion, Sullivan said he's hoping to recruit 150 new members in short order and undertake a capital campaign to upgrade the facilities and deliver an even better club experience.

While board members have heard about member complaints through a series of internal surveys undertaken by professional services company The Signature Group of Vienna, Va., they also learned that the club itself is still well-regarded, Sullivan said.

"We found out that people are still proud to be part of the club," he said.

Sullivan and the board said they've listened to their membership and gathered an array of ideas to implement in the near future to keep the club relevant to changing times, but at this point they'll need more than talk to survive.

"We're past the idea stage," he said. "If people want the club to survive, everyone has to do a little bit."

Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/business/article.aspx?subjectid=49&articleid=20110624_46_E1_CukSli770852

[Teatownclown]

No great loss.....not only did the industry change from many independents but the city itself got decentralized which brings us to where we are today. Evolution is hell.

[Conan71]

He should have tried the 900 foot Jeebus plea.

[zstyles]

Ive been to this place for social events, the staff, the venue the facilities is behind the times. I am a member of the Summit Club and the place is run like a private club should be run, friendly, food is amazing, they have activities for members and its hands down the best private supper club/social club in the state. Not sure where or who gave the petroleum club its five star rating but its not deserved. Sorry I don't mince words either Chuck..

[stageidea]

I have to agree.  Events at the Summit Club have been much nicer than the Petroleum Club in recent years.  I am not going to miss the Petroleum Club.

[sauerkraut]

This is bad news. I hope they will be able to keep going.

[nathanm]

If they had managed to make the move to First Place, I think they would have stood a much better chance. (Here I am, already speaking about the club in the past tense)

[DTowner]

I don't wish to see the P-Club's demise, but it has been well behind the Summit Club in terms of facilities, food and services for more than a decade.  In the near term, I'm not sure it matters because I doubt there is enough demand for downtown private dinning clubs to support more than one.

[SXSW]

Tulsa doesn't need two private downtown clubs.  The Summit Club is much nicer anyway. 

I thought once they moved to First Place In The Raw was supposed to open in their space?  Maybe that will still happen but the Petroleum Club will be no more.  If you want to take clients to a downtown restaurant with a nice view you can go to the Summit Club or have drinks and sushi at the much more trendy and contemporary In The Raw without the membership...

[zstyles]

Tulsa doesn't need two private downtown clubs.  The Summit Club is much nicer anyway. 

I thought once they moved to First Place In The Raw was supposed to open in their space?  Maybe that will still happen but the Petroleum Club will be no more.  If you want to take clients to a downtown restaurant with a nice view you can go to the Summit Club or have drinks and sushi at the much more trendy and contemporary In The Raw without the membership...

Well you can take them there if your a member of the Summit Club I can't see how In The Raw would see this as a good business plan, parking, access to the building, and leasing would be a PITA at this place. They would really have to rely just on dinner in the evening when street parking is open and or a core business crowd for lunch.

Also I heard that Urban Tulsa (who has done their yearly awards at the petro club) is still planning on holding the event there even if it closes and Post Oak Lodge is just going to staff the place. Not sure how liability wise that works if no one actually owns the floor but thats the word...guess we will find out tomorrow if they are still around!

[Vision 2025]

Notice in the building this morning, the club is CLOSED!

[zstyles]

Dum Dum dummmmmmmmm

[carltonplace]

Well you can take them there if your a member of the Summit Club I can't see how In The Raw would see this as a good business plan, parking, access to the building, and leasing would be a PITA at this place. They would really have to rely just on dinner in the evening when street parking is open and or a core business crowd for lunch.

Also I heard that Urban Tulsa (who has done their yearly awards at the petro club) is still planning on holding the event there even if it closes and Post Oak Lodge is just going to staff the place. Not sure how liability wise that works if no one actually owns the floor but thats the word...guess we will find out tomorrow if they are still around!

I'm not certain what the business model is for "top of the world restaurants", but they sure are cool.

Wouldn't want to work at this In The Raw during prom season.

[Hoss]

Notice in the building this morning, the club is CLOSED!

[Conan71]

Right before someone plugged him with a .223 round.