ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, February 15, 1996 TAG: 9602150043
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JEFF STURGEON STAFF WRITER
THOUGH IT RECENTLY was serving meals to the Roanoke Valley's business elite, this posh facility stands to be parceled off during an auction Friday.
The Jefferson Club is going, going and - by the end of this week - will be gone.
Friday at 11 a.m., an auctioneer will begin selling every last champagne bucket, water cooler and chair used by the private dining club, which closed late last year.
The club occupied the top floor of the First Union Bank Building in downtown Roanoke.
Long a site for business lunches, service club meetings and private social occasions, the Jefferson Club closed Dec. 22 after 201/2 years. Though it had 800 members, it had seen revenue and memberships fall, in part because of federal tax-law changes that reduced or eliminated write-offs for club dues and meals.
There's considerable interest in the auction, which is expected to draw neophytes as well as seasoned bidders.
"We've got people coming in from two states," auctioneer Bill Walker said. "Everything from people who got married at the Jefferson Club to restaurant equipment dealers in Pennsylvania."
Because of the number of local residents who want to buy souvenirs, the auctioneer will sell the club's substantial dinnerware collection in lots as small as a dozen pieces, said Walker, who works for the auction division of Hall Associates Inc., a Roanoke realty company.
"If you want 12 wine glasses for your home, even though I've got 400 of them ... I'm going to sell you 12," Walker said.
Walker also promises to control the pace of bidding, so potential buyers unfamiliar with how auctions work can keep up. There are no starting bids, and each of 349 items or groups of items is listed in a 10-page flier that will be available at the door.
Television monitors in the main dining room, where the auction will be conducted, will carry live images of each item during the bidding.
Money from the sale will go to United Coal Co. of Bristol, which, as owner of the First Union building, was the club's landlord. United officials already have taken many of the choice club furnishings, including a grandfather clock, Walker said.
The largest item for sale - and the piece Walker expects to fetch the highest price - is a 15-foot-long mahogany bar. The piece that seemed to create the most interest during a viewing of the property Wednesday was a large telescope in the club lobby that was aimed out a picture window on the north side of the building.
The club's considerable collection of restaurant and dining room supplies and utensils includes dozens of skillets, 26 gravy dishes, 53 bud vases, 125 soup spoons and 438 bread-and-butter plates.
Many of those present as the viewing began were former club members who see the auction as a chance to own club keepsakes, such as a marble shoeshine chair, six brass chandeliers, a gold-leaf mirror and a set of French doors.
LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ERIC BRADY/Staff. Auction participants view cookware,by CNBfurnishings and other items ready to be sold at the Jefferson Club.
The private restaurant closed Dec. 22.