June/July - Minneapolis Club

FROM THE
GENERAL MANAGER
Frank DiLapo
General Manager
frankd@mplsclub.org
Newly renovated Grill to reopen in September
Main Dining Room on 3rd floor
serves as breakfast and lunch
restaurant in the meantime
The architectural blue prints of
the Clubhouse from 1906 indicate
the space on the first floor currently
occupied by our Grill was the Club’s
Billiards Room and the Hunters Bar
was the porch overlooking the lot to
the north of the Club. The lot is now
our Athletic Wing and beyond that is
the Ameriprise Building.
The Billiards Room was
converted to a restaurant in the late
1920’s. It was renovated in 1950 and
then again for the last time in 1974.
The Grill has remained unchanged
since then.
In 1974 President Nixon resigned
over the Watergate scandal. “The
Sting” was the number one movie in
the theaters; Eric Clapton topped the
From Pool...
charts with his hit “I shot the Sheriff”
and the most popular shows on TV
were “Kung Fu” and the “Waltons”.
Much has changed since 1974.
One of the hallmarks of a successful
Club is its ability to adapt and change
as the needs of its membership
changes. The Minneapolis Club has
a history of successfully changing to
meet its member’s desires. Starting
with reconfiguring the first floor of the
Clubhouse to add the Grill and remove
the Billiards Room.
Other notable changes have been
the elimination of the second floor
Bowling Alleys to expand the Men’s
locker Room. The addition of the
Parking Ramp, the expansion of the
Athletic Wing, the addition of the
Pub and the expanded group exercise
studios in our Fitness Center. All of
these changes were driven by member
needs and desires and thus have ensured
the Club remains strong and relevant in
an ever changing world.
The renovation of the Grill and
the addition of our Garden dining
are just the latest alterations to a
Clubhouse that has been changed
considerably since the original
drawing of 1906.
I realize that there are those
among us that enjoy the Grill as it is
and believe strongly that it should
not change. I appreciate and respect
those opinions. I am also certain
that similar sentiments were echoed
by members at the time of each
of the previous renovations made
to the Clubhouse. Whether it was
the Billiards Room, The Bowling
Alleys, the Sleeping Room for naps
or any number of other renovations
that brought us to our current
configuration, there were members
that did not agree with the proposed
renovation. However, I am certain
all of the previous renovations were
GRILL CONT. NEXT PAGE...
1900’s 1950’s
1970’s
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