Springfield | Fairfax County Revitalization

Clark Banks on Banquets
From the Times Community Newspaper
By Jason Jacks
August 11, 2005

Keith Clark knows how to throw a party—parties with "it."

Not familiar with this social phenomenon?

"It" people are the ones others gravitate toward because they throw the hippest and swankiest get-togethers.

At Clark's socials, silky gowns and high heels are must-wears. Black ties and tails are occasionally sighted. Even stretch limousines are not out of the question.

If you are not yet familiar with this festive man, then you might be surprised to know that you may have already been to one of his parties.

Clark is president and brainchild behind Waterford Receptions, which includes in its fold the Waterford banquet hall near Fair Oaks Mall and the future Waterford at Springfield.

His Fair Oaks facility, now in its fifth year, hosts about 160 wedding receptions each year, the most in the state, Clark estimated. And when it opens in mid-2006, his 44,000-square-foot Waterford at Springfield—on Commerce Street across from the Courtyard by Marriott in central Springfield—will be the second largest catering hall in Fairfax County, second only to the Ritz-Carlton in Tysons Corner.

But how hard could it be to open a banquet facility? You get your hands on a big building. Gut it. Then put out some fake flower bouquets and nice china.

Right?

Not even close.

"It took 17 years to make this happen," Clark explained.

Originally from Connecticut, Clark, 53, caught the politics bug while attending Lafayette College in Easton, Pa. He spent his summers interning in Washington, D.C., before eventually moving to the area to work on Capitol Hill.

However, not unlike countless other wide-eyed political hopefuls looking to soar to the heights of a Newt Gingrich or Ted Kennedy, Clark made a career detour. In 1974, he started a popular tour group company in Washington, D.C., which eventually spread to New York City and San Francisco.

A decade later, after he sold his share of the business to his partners, the idea for a banquet hall surfaced after he and his wife at the time, Joan Clark struggled to find a hall for a New Year's Eve party they were hosting.

With this dearth of local banquet options fresh in his mind, Clark eventually acquired the lease for the Jerry's Dodge building in Springfield with plans to open a hall there. But he had to scrap the idea after the Lee District supervisor at the time, Joseph Alexander, came out strongly against a banquet facility at that site.

Clark tried again in 1987 with a piece of property he had lined up on Telegraph Road in Alexandria near the Capital Beltway. However, the historic "Black Monday" stock market crash of that year put his banquet hall idea back "to bed" for another 11 years, he said.

It was not until the late 1990s, while Clark was working with the transportation advocacy arm of the Washington Airports Task Force, that he was able to make important connections and persuade about two dozen investors, including local developer John "Til" Hazel, to buy into his vision.

In July 2000, with $700,000 in advanced bookings already in place, Clark opened Waterford at Fair Oaks in an abandoned movie theater.

"From one end of the building to the other, it smelled like popcorn," he remembered.

In the future, Clark envisions opening nine Waterford banquet halls throughout the southeastern United States, he said, including the facility in Springfield.

"Location-wise, it's perfect," he said about his Commerce Street building near the Springfield interchange, which used to house a Toys 'R Us store and a mattress discounter.

"We'll get some customers from as far away as Fredericksburg," he said.