News

Hilton's top-floor showcase getting another makeover

Posted February 28, 2008 10:00 pm

Bruce Rushton

Seattle has the Space Needle. Las Vegas has the Stratosphere.

Since 1974, Springfield has had the Hilton building for 30-stories-high drinking and dining. But no more.

With little fanfare, the Hilton Springfield is closing a bar and restaurant atop the tallest building in Illinois south of Chicago. By Monday, hotel management says, there will be no more late-night booze and music in Jazz Central Station and no more dinners at Capisce? Ristorante Italiano.

Michael Fear, hotel general manager, said the top floor will be remodeled, but he wouldn't say what will replace the restaurant and adjoining cocktail lounge when work is complete in about eight months.

"We're going to remodel and refocus that area," Fear said.

Management, food and decor has changed over the years, but the view hasn't.

Even on Thursday, a less-than-clear day, the smokestack at the Kincaid power plant at Sangchris Lake more than 10 miles distant was easily visible during lunch.

Frank Trompeter, a saxophonist who estimates he has played Jazz Central Station as many as 50 times, can attest the view is equally spectacular at night.

"I'm definitely going to miss it as a place to perform at and a bar to go to," said Trompeter, whose last gig at Jazz Central Station was on Valentine's Day. "It's a classy room to see jazz."

Trompeter and his bandmates in Elevator Shoe, which disbanded in 2005, thought so much of the bar that they named a 2003 CD after a sign they saw each time they took the stage: Occupancy By More Than 119 Persons Is Illegal.

There were about 75 people in the crowd when he played on Feb. 14 as the leader of a quartet.

"That was a good house," Trompeter said. "Basically, all the chairs were full."

That same night, Tiana Richards enjoyed a romantic dinner with her fiance. The food, she said, wasn't good, but the atmosphere and view couldn't be beat.

"It wasn't all bustle-y and loud and crowded like all the other restaurants on Valentine's Day," said Richards, whose future husband arranged for a serenade by a barbershop quartet. "It was a lovely evening."

Tom Becker of Chestnut spent many lovely evenings in the bar, where he played piano four nights a week between 1998 and 2000. It was enough of a commitment that he had his own 6-foot-long baby grand piano stuffed in an elevator and hauled up. Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett, Bill Evans - he played what he wanted, and there was no cover charge.

"I loved it," Becker said. "I've missed it for eight years."

Members of Ray Charles' backing band once sat in while coming through town, as did musicians with the Duke Ellington Orchestra, Becker recalled.

"They were just jazz players from New York who wanted someplace to play after hours," said Becker, who refused to say what time everyone went home those nights.

Black Magic Johnson, a blues band scheduled to perform Saturday night, will be the final act. Reggie Britton, drummer, harmonica player and singer for the band, called it the last hurrah.

"It's a wonderful place to play," Britton said. "It's a very big loss."

State Journal-Register Business Editor Tim Landis contributed to this report. Bruce Rushton can be reached at (217) 788-1542.

Article Categories
News