Denver’s historic Press Club submitted property tax and insurance payments late and an insurance company temporarily yanked its coverage as financial problems continued to plague the organization.
At a contentious board meeting on Monday, the Press Club’s board agreed to a request from six club members for a special meeting to consider replacing some of the 11 board representatives, said Jane Earle, a club member who signed the request. No date for the meeting has been set.
The board also agreed to hire an outside auditor to examine the club’s books, said Mark Stutz, board vice president.
The Denver Press Club paid a $6,300 property tax bill – due no later than June 15 – to Denver on Sept. 29, Stutz said.
Continued nonpayment could have led the tax assessor to place the building that houses the club on Glenarm Place up for auction.
And the club’s accident insurance policy was canceled for nonpayment last month. The bill has since been paid, Stutz said, and the policy went back in effect Tuesday.
The club is in arrears on about $24,000 owed to vendors.
Some club members blame a board that took over the nonprofit organization on April 1.
Stutz, who joined the board in June, said he might resign after witnessing club members’ anger at Monday’s meeting.
“I wasn’t thrilled to run a meeting of 75 people, many of whom were angry last night, but by the same token it showed they cared,” he said Tuesday. “In my mind, we were almost approaching a mob mentality.”
Before it was remodeled in 2002, the club, founded in 1884 and in continuous operation since 1905, was close to financial ruin. Since then, it has built a reputation for good dining and become adept at hosting wedding parties and other functions, Stutz said.
The current financial crisis was caused by a fall-off in wedding business coupled with a routine summer slump in the club’s dining and event business, Stutz said.
The nonprofit organization has flirted with financial disaster a number of times, said Earle, a former Denver Water Board manager of community relations who has been a member of the club for more than 30 years.
“I don’t think we will close, the members in that room last night have the same passion that the club members always have. We will figure out what to do to keep it on firm footing,” Earle said.
Staff writer Tom McGhee can be reached at 303-820-1671 or tmcghee@denverpost.com.
