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Iowa City: The Highlander
There Can Be Only One! It feels like everyone has a memory of The Highlander, a stomping ground for athletes, presidents and local families alike. BY KEVIN BOYD
I
was a little nervous during my first meeting as a member of Iowa City’s Historic Preservation Commission a few years ago. After we voted to adjourn, I breathed a sigh of relief—I hadn’t made a motion at the wrong time and didn’t seem to screw anything up. And then a former commissioner asked if he could talk to me. The anxiety came rushing back. “You are Bob and Leona’s grandson, right? How’s your grandmother doing?” I was relieved, and I knew what he’d say next: “My first job was at the Highlander.” These types of conversations have been familiar to me for as long as I can remember. My grandparents, Bob and Leona McGurk, were among the original owners of the Highlander, a mid-century mecca for Iowa Citians looking to let loose for a night. Later my parents, aunt and uncle joined my grandmother in owning and operating it. The Highlander Supper Club opened in 1967 in what was then the outskirts
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The Highlander today, enjoying local landmark status. Chad Rhym / Little Village
of Iowa City, adjacent to the newly completed I-80 intersection with Highway 1. Supper clubs were popular Midwest restaurants where guests would dine out for a special occasion or just a Saturday evening out. A few years after the Highlander opened, the owners completed their plans for a full-service facility that
included the club, an inn, a coffee shop, a convention center with meeting rooms, ballroom space, a lounge, hotel rooms and an indoor pool. For decades it was the home of to-dos large and small, including I-Club events, celebrity golf tournaments, car shows, weddings, bridal showers, retirement parties and birthday
