Omaha Exploration

Turf Club was once a popular spot with the horse racing crowd and employees at Aksarben Track and Coliseum. Originally located at 6005 Center Street, the bar was opened in 1957 by James R. and Jo Ann Irwin. Like Trackside Lounge on 60th and Woolworth, its name was likely chosen to capitalize on its proximity to the nearby track. Just two years later it was sold to Frank Cyronek who passed it down to his son his son Thomas in 1969. 

By the early 1980s 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 got tangled up in the largest cash robbery in Omaha in November 1992 when the son of its late owner, Jerry Hannum, who also happened to work as a bartender pulled off a heist of the racetrack. Prior to that he was often spotted at the track placing bets while keeping an eye on his father’s racehorse. He and two others left with $372,000 in cash. He fled town only be apprehended in San Francisco in February 1993 and was later convicted for the robbery.

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 that 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 S 60th Street. By this time, Jimmy’s wife, Judy, owned the bar. The building was a new construction but had a similar layout but lacked its familiar red color with Judy preferring a beige color. 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 that the new bar was “a mixture of the fold 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, its name changed back to the 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. He refers to the Turf Club as the “Okayest Bar in Omaha” on its Facebook page. It also includes a number of games to keep you entertained from ping pong to pool, darts and keno.

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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