Letter to members explains why Chattahoochee River Club has closed in Columbus

After 34 years of providing fine dining and a venue for private social events, a Columbus riverfront establishment is out of business.

The Chattahoochee River Club, at 1100 Bay Ave, has officially closed. The members-only club ceased operations May 1.

In a letter sent to members Wednesday, obtained by the Ledger-Enquirer, club leadership attributed the closure to a string of economic difficulties, dwindling membership and the steep cost of crucial repairs to maintain the building.

“Over the past several years, the club leadership used every resource available and attempted various creative approaches to attempt to reverse the club’s continuing financial decline,” the letter says. “Unfortunately, those efforts were unsuccessful, leading us to now officially dissolve the club.”

The letter says the club has not recovered from the remote-work model that emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic. And the failure of the club’s industrial water heater and flood damage, which forced the club to temporarily close in March, added onto that pressure.

In a letter sent to members in March, Stephen Cullen, the club’s general manager, wrote that the club’s lawyer had advised leadership to petition the local court to enter into a receivership, a process that appoints a third-party to manage the assets of a business. The outcome of the petition was not mentioned in the letter.

“As you all know from previous club correspondence, the River Club now faces closure due to a sharp decline in membership and lack of use by the members,” Cullen wrote. “Compounding the financial crisis are other mandated operational costs, such as property taxes and necessary improvements, expenses which club finances can no longer sustain.”

Founded in 1990 and opened in 1992, the Chattahoochee River Club property is owned by the W.C. Bradley Company.

“We want to sincerely thank you for being a member of the Chattahoochee River Club; especially for your patronage and support over the many years of the club’s existence,” the closure announcement letter says.

Representatives from the W.C. Bradley Company and the Chattahoochee River Club did not respond to the L-E’s request for comment before publication.