Courtesy of News-Leader.com, Springfield, Mo.; reporters Stephen Herzog and Wes Johnson and former reporter Kathleen O’Dell contributed to this story
John Q. Hammons, the iconic hotel developer who helped shape Springfield with his business acumen and philanthropy, has died. He was 94.
“He literally put Springfield Missouri on the map,” said Jim Anderson, president of the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce. “In his healthier days he would crisscross the country on business, but he would always return home to Springfield. This was his home, and he was proud of that.”
Longtime friend and right hand man Scott Tarwater remembers Hammons — known to many simply as “John Q.” — as a kind man.
“The first thing that comes to mind is what an incredible friend and mentor and teacher he was, and what a solid gold heart he possessed,” Tarwater said.
Hammons, who had been in declining health, died Sunday at the Manor at Elfindale. Details about services are pending.
His legacy includes the development of 210 hotel properties across 40 states, raising the bar in the travel business industry. Hammons formed John Q. Hammons Hotels in 1969 and built it into the largest private, independent owner and manager of upscale hotels in the United States.
Today, the company operates 78 hotels in 24 states. The hotels include nearly 19,000 guest rooms or suites and 5.4 million gross square feet of meeting and convention space. They also employ more than 8,500 people.
“I always wanted to be successful,” Hammons said in a 1971 interview with the News-Leader. “But it’s not the making of money that interests me so much as the creation of projects and keeping abreast of what is happening in the world each day,” he said.
In Springfield, Hammons’ shadow is enormous. He developed shopping centers, residential subdivisions, country clubs, hotel convention centers, office buildings and his namesake $32 million Hammons Field, which opened in 2004 and laid the groundwork toward Double-A minor league baseball returning to the Ozarks for the first time since 1952.
The St. Louis Cardinals in 2004 purchased the El Paso Diablos of the Texas League and relocated the franchise to Hammons Field. Hundreds of future big-leaguers have since played there, with Missouri State’s baseball team also calling it home.
