The Beckley, W. Va. club was bought in 2011 by Jim Justice, who also owns The Greenbrier and another resort in the state and was elected as West Virginia’s Governor in 2016. Justice said he had invested close to $5 million in Black Knight but had to close it because of dwindling membership, competition from newer clubs and lack of an 18-hole golf course. “It just breaks your heart [to close], but at the same time, at some point in time it will break your wallet, too,” Justice said.
Black Knight Country Club, a historic facility in Beckley, W. Va., closed its doors during the last week of December after 89 years of existence, The Register-Herald of Beckley reported.
Citing dwindling membership, competition from newer country clubs and the smaller 9-hole golf course at Black Knight, club owner Gov. Jim Justice said that he was forced to close, The Register-Herald reported.
“It breaks my heart, to tell you the truth,” said Justice, who purchased the club in 2011 and also owns two resorts in the state: The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs and The Resort at Glade Springs in Daniels.
“I bought Black Knight just from the standpoint it was really struggling and about to go down, and at the time I bought it, it was on the verge of going under,” Justice said.
The Charleston (W. Va.) Register-Mail reported that when Black Knight was purchased more than six years ago, it was reported that the Justice Companies paid $1 million for the clubhouse, restaurant, pool, tennis courts, 9-hole golf course and roughly 60 acres of land.
In an interview at the time, The Register-Mail reported, Justice said he had five decades worth of experience at the club and would do all he could to salvage decreasing membership and other financial troubles.
“I don’t want to promise that I have a silver bullet that’s going to solve all the problems there, or that I’m going to pull 15 rabbits out of my hat, but I’m going to do everything I can to make it go,” he said then, The Register-Mail reported.
In announcing the club’s closing, Justice said he has invested close to $5 million since purchasing the property, adding a restaurant on the second floor and renovating a bar, The Register-Herald reported.
“I can tell you that the people there, from the waitresses to the people that are answering the phones to the cooks, they’ve done a great job, and [general manager] Byrd White has tried in every way,” he added.
“I’m not going to say it’s dead forever, but it’s almost like we outgrew Black Knight,” he said, adding that the club was once the only “little 9-hole golf course and restaurant” in the area.
“It just breaks your heart, but, at the same time, at some point in time, it will break your wallet, too,” the governor said, ” because you’re losing hundreds of thousands dollars a year, and you just can’t make it get better.”
Prior to closing, Justice had reached out to prospective buyers, but a few promising leads turned out to be dead ends, The Register-Herald reported.
“If someone came along and wanted to buy it, I’d surely sell it, if someone had a better idea than what we’ve had,” he said. “I would love to see it continue on.
“From our standpoint, the best thing to do is still look at the possibility of a potential buyer, but, at the same time, be realistic to know that that’s probably few and far between.”
“What we need to do is just step back from the whole thing and think, ‘Is there a way, is there something else we could do to make a go of this thing?’
Justice said he and wife Cathy hosted their wedding reception at Black Knight, The Register-Herald reported, and that he watched his own children learn to swim, golf and play tennis there. He also had many memories of being there with his father and all of that personal history had influenced his purchase of the struggling club in 2011, and his decision to close the club was not without emotion, he said.
Justice said the club would make an excellent location for a culinary school, possibly for West Virginia University Tech students. He added that a purchase by WVU-Tech would “be a real possibility,” but said any potential deal with the school is “nowhere close to the finish line.”
“It’s great to talk about all these ideas, but somebody’s got to come forward and be able to do it,” he said.
General manager Byrd White said he learned of plans to close the club “a few days ago” and had alerted club employees of the impending closure on December 27th and had sent the notice to the club’s members on the following day, The Register-Herald reported.
“It’s been a really, really good time for a long time,” White said. “But economics have forced us to close.”
Around 10 employees worked at the club, White said. Most had held long-time positions at Black Knight, which began operating around 1928. One employee had been with Black Knight for 44 years.
White said the mood among employees was “just like you’d expect.”
“Everybody’s sad, including me,” he said. “They’re pretty upset.”
White added that the closure wasn’t a surprise for him, The Register-Herald reported.
“I see the financial statements every month,” he said. “Frankly, it was my recommendation to the owner that he close.
“It’s kept me up a few nights. But it is where it is, and you go on.
White said the building and grounds will be maintained, The Register-Herald reported. But short of adding 200 new members, he said, the doors will remain closed indefinitely.
“It’s a gorgeous place,” he added. “I don’t remember the last time I got a complaint about the food or the service.
“Good staff, good food, nice place…no members.”
White told The Register-Mail that with only 49 members, the club just wasn’t sustainable.
“I called the owner and said, ‘This ain’t working,’ and he agreed,” White said. “We’ve been fighting this for a long time.”
The club is working on finding new employment for its staff, White told The Register-Mail. As for its members, those who paid six months in advance have been granted membership at the Resort at Glade Springs, The Gazette-Mail reported. Glade Springs members already had access to Black Knight as a perk.
WVVA, the NBC station in Bluefield, W. Va., reported that White said Black Knight had 440 members in 1997.
“I think younger people don’t join country clubs, and they tend to not be joiners.of country clubs and civic clubs; they just don’t seem to be interested in that sort of thing anymore,” White in an interview with the station.
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