Several residents of The Greenbrier Sporting Club have written letters admitted into the record of a federal court case to express their concerns about the current management.
One of them, Douglas Van Scoy, wrote to the court, “I am a resident of the Sporting Club at the Greenbrier. I would ask that you come in unannounced to visit the Greenbrier. The lack of long term maintenance is frighting.”
The letters were directed to U.S. District Judge Frank Volk in a case about control of the historic Greenbrier Hotel and associated properties. Volk ordered them to be entered into the court record.
Volk is overseeing a case where the Omni Hotels affiliate White Sulphur Springs Holdings owns about $300 million in first-lien debt on The Greenbrier Hotel.
Lawyers for the holding company say their collateral is at risk, and they’ve been asking the judge to appoint a third-party receiver to oversee the hotel while pushing out the owners, Senator Jim Justice and his family business network.
The Justices and their Greenbrier Hotel Corporation say a $500 million deal could pay off White Sulphur Springs Holdings and other entities owed money while also providing enough to invest in long-needed hotel improvements.
The Greenbrier Sporting Club members who have written to the court say they’re tired of the status quo.
Van Scoy retired from Smith Barney as a deputy director and senior executive vice president. He then established a hospitality and restaurant management business operating across states like South Carolina and West Virginia.
“I don’t think you will find many people here that think the continuation of Justice ownership is a good thing. If he can’t pay current debts including taxes, how will the ever be able to pay back a $500 million debt with double digit interest?” Van Scoy wrote to the judge
“By postponing the inevitable the Greenbrier will continue to deteriorate. Please do what’s best for many of us in the Greenbrier Valley and State of West Virginia.”
Another Greenbrier Sporting Club member, Drew Kagan, wrote to tell the judge that he agrees with Van Scoy. Kagan is the board chairman of the Sterling Capital Mutual Funds.
“We need change, and the sooner the better,” Kagan wrote.
Sporting Club member Bryson Cook wrote that he, too, agrees with Van Scoy: “His viewpoints are widely shared by the Greenbrier community.”
Greenbrier County resident Glen Hiner wrote that he and his wife support a change. Hiner has been a senior vice president for GE Plastics.
“The current issue before you involving the Justice family is just not in the best interest of the citizens of our community,” Hiner wrote to the judge. “Please do what’s right in setting the future course of the Greenbrier, bring back our dignity and pride not debt and disgust.”