Omaha Exploration

A once-popular bar with the horse racing crowd has since reinvented itself over the years and now sits around the corner from where it started.

Originally located at 6005 Center Street, Turf Club was favored by many who not only wagered on the races but also worked as employees at Aksarben Track and Coliseum. The bar was opened in 1957 by James R. and Jo Ann Irwin and, like Trackside Lounge a few blocks north, it was built to accommodate the crowds at the nearby track.

By 1959, the Irwins sold the bar to Frank Cyronek, a 10-year veteran of the Navy. From this point until the early 1980s it gets a bit murky, as there isn’t much in the newspaper archives. By 1969, however, Frank had passed the bar down to his son, Thomas. By that time it was referred to as the Turf Lounge rather than Turf Club. I suspect this aligns with a new owner but haven’t been able to find a name.

The bar was sold to Jerry Hannum at some point thereafter and got tangled up in the largest cash robbery in Omaha at the time in November 1992. It was the son of the late owner who pulled off the heist at Aksarben. He managed the bar for a time and was often spotted at the track drinking and occasionally placing bets while keeping an eye on his father’s racehorse. He and one other person left with $372,000 in cash. He attempted to flee to Australia with fake passports, only to be apprehended in San Francisco in February 1993. According to the Omaha World-Herald, he traveled in style while on the run, renting limousines and staying at nice hotels. He was later convicted of robbery and use of a knife to commit a felony.

After Jerry’s death, Sam “Jimmy” Howell III took ownership. Jimmy was quite familiar with the bar business, as he owned Jimmy’s Place at 5202 Center Street for more than 20 years. Jimmy was also vice president at his family’s insurance agency, which started in 1886 as E. E. Howell & Son before becoming The Howell Agency. It claimed to be the oldest insurance agency in Omaha at the time. He was the son of Douglas County Treasurer Sam J. Howell and the brother of Ann Boyle, who was married to Omaha Mayor Mike Boyle. His ties and experience must have led to some much-needed stability following the association of the bar with the heist at Aksarben.

Considered to be an Omaha landmark, Turf Club managed to survive the closing of the racetrack in 1995. At that point, the bar started to attract a younger, college-age crowd. After Jimmy passed away in 2006, the building and lot at 60th and Center were sold to developers who tore it down and constructed a gas station, convenience store, and car wash.

The old bar found new life at its new location just around the corner at 2404 South 60th Street. By this time, Jimmy’s wife, Judy, owned the bar. The building was new construction but had a similar layout, though it lacked the familiar red color, with Judy preferring beige. She did, however, install a red sign with its familiar slanted letters that spelled out the word “Turf.” She also changed the name to Club Turf, which was inspired by its younger clientele.

The sign, as well as the lights from the original bar and its oversized 25-cent pool table, also served as a nod to its past. After the move, she said the new bar was “a mixture of the old and the new, but it’s still just a neighborhood place. No keno, no food, just a neighborhood saloon, as my husband used to call it.”

Interior photos courtesy of Marquell Jackson (left) and Rob Huxhold (right) via Google.

After Judy passed away in 2011, the name changed back to Turf Club and a new green and white sign was installed featuring a horseshoe and lucky clover. Today, the bar is owned by Ryan McClellan, who completed a renovation in 2020. It offers a variety of entertainment options including ping pong, pool, darts, and keno, and shows its sense of humor on its Facebook page by referring to itself as the “Okayest Bar in Omaha.”

Have you been to Turf Club either at its current location or its former spot along Center Street? If so, what are some of your favorite memories? I’d like to hear what you have to say so please feel free to comment. Until next time, keep exploring!

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Sources

• Omaha World-Herald archives
• Francis J. “Frank” Cyronek Sr. (1915-2002) – Find a Grave Memorial