Eagles Club to close its doors

(Photo by Russ Mitchell) Eagles 2273 is closing its doors, but will be open through Saturday for typical weekend business while supplies last. A liquidation will continue into next week, according to aerie leaders.

But there weren't enough of them. On Wednesday, organization leaders confirmed plans to end the local charter and close the Eagles Club at 422 First Avenue East.

The last night of business will be Saturday night. Events, including the many wedding receptions it hosted, will no longer be featured on the marquee at Eagles 2273.

Local Fraternal Order of Eagles chapters are called aeries and Spencer's aerie secretary, Clint Hoger, said he's been instructed to sell as much of the club's content as he can.

Toward that end, Hoger will keep the building open from about noon to 5 p.m. each day next week in an effort to liquidate the club assets. Vendors will have to come in and remove their coolers.

"As long as the vendors don't own it, we're going to sell it," Hoger said, with only a few exceptions.

Jack Schaben, the owner of Sneakers Sports Lounge, owns the building and some of the content. Hoger plans to review an inventory with Schaben to determine what stays with the building.

Clothes and holiday decorations were part of a recent garage sale to help Eagles finances. The DJ and karaoke equipment remain and will be among the items for sale.

Hoger is also looking ahead. The local Eagles organization is giving up its charter, but can open up another club, in a different building, after a waiting period.

"We may lose it (the aerie charter) for maybe three months or six months -- something like that," Hoger said. "During that time I'll be looking for a different place."

The cost of rent and utilities were a factor, but Hoger said a previous secretary "did the most damage" to the organization, with poor fiscal management -- bands were hired, but bills went unpaid as one example. Pat Eaton, an assistant to the aerie secretary, agrees.

"I hate to point fingers," Eaton said. "We just had one person in here that just ran us down to the ground. He was only in office for a year and within one year, he put us majorly into debt."

The Eagles Club was a fixture at what is now the Cardio Plus health club in the first block of West Third Street. The organization moved to its current location in January 2004.

"The Eagles, basically, is a charitable organization," Eaton said. "In fact the Eagles, in connection with Iowa City, is building a diabetic research center."

Eaton said the charitable work may have gone unnoticed by some locally.

"I go with the belief: If you give, you receive," she said. "And if you're not going to give, you're not going to get."