Swisshelm saga hits Ebbets Field

A prominent restaurateur has filed for his third bankruptcy in the last two months.

On April 24, Bruce Swisshelm filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for Ebbets Field LLC, prompting the closure of the Ebbets Field restaurant on South Glenstone Avenue.

Through Ebbets Field LLC, Swisshelm had co-owned the south-side Ebbets Field and the mainstay on East Walnut Street. The company reported in the filing average monthly net losses of $10,610, as well as liabilities of $1.72 million against assets of $484,030.

Eleven days before the filing, Pub Management LLC officially took over management of the Ebbets restaurant brand that has been a fixture in Springfield since 1981. The management group comprises Ron Baird, an attorney with Baird, Lightner, Millsap & Harpool PC, and Lynn and Terry Allen, who is the head football coach at Missouri State University. Pub Management has kept the center city Ebbets Field open.

Ebbets Field LLC is the second business entity owned by Swisshelm to declare bankruptcy since the restaurateur and his wife filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation March 14.

The company that owned the San Francisco Oven franchise, SFO Missouri Inc. aka Swisshelm Group, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy April 13.

David Wieland, a bankruptcy attorney with Wieland & Condry LLC, said it is not uncommon for a business owner in personal bankruptcy to file separately for business entities.

“If I own a bunch of O’Reilly Automotive stock, and I file for bankruptcy, that doesn’t bring O’Reilly into my bankruptcy. But if I owned all of the O’Reilly stock, I could put in the caption, O’Reilly Automotive Inc.,” said Wieland, who has more than 30 years of legal experience, including representing creditors in bankruptcy cases.

Wieland, who doesn’t represent any creditors in the Swisshelm cases, said he reviewed the personal filing and noticed Swisshelm attached the names of 16 business entities as other names used by the debtor. He said the possible intent was to prevent collection action against all of them.

Calls to Raymond Plaster, the Swisshelms’ personal bankruptcy attorney, were not returned by press time.

Wieland said he was familiar with several cases where an entrepreneur filed for personal bankruptcy and then filed for his businesses, but none of the cases was by executives as prominent as Swisshelm.

While it is unclear when Swisshelm’s business filings could stop – the personal filing listed his ownership interest in nine active businesses – at least three of his former businesses are still operating to some degree: San Francisco Oven, Ebbets Field and Romano’s Macaroni Grill.

Swisshelm partnered with his son, Bruce Swisshelm Jr., on the Macaroni Grill venture. As of May 3, the business was still open after roughly two weeks of being closed due to electrical damage, according to the younger Swisshelm, who agreed to a phone interview but could not be reached for further comment.

Gordon Elliott of Elliott Lodging Ltd. was the landlord for the East Sunshine Street San Francisco Oven restaurant, and his Market Place Properties Inc. took over the restaurant’s operations March 31. Market Place Properties was owed $18,795 by SFO Missouri, according to court records.

SFO Missouri also was franchisor for two Dallas area locations operated by DFW San Francisco Ovens LLC. One of those locations has closed, and the other remains open in accordance with its lease obligations, according to Ken Campbell, the company’s director of operations.

Both Elliott and Campbell have expressed an interest in purchasing the rights to the San Francisco Oven franchise.

Baird said Swisshelm was the authorized agent for the Ebbets Field bankruptcy filing, as he continued to help run the restaurants until the management agreement was formed.

The Ebbets Field ownership group of Swisshelm, Baird and Allen previously operated the sports bar Rivals at 3662 S. Glenstone Ave., before closing it in mid-2010. The group opened Ebbets Field South after an investor group led by Swisshelm bought Ebbets from Lance Reeves. The nearly 10,000-square-foot building – now owned by Swisshelm and Baird’s SB Real Estate Holdings LLC – previously housed a Charles E. Walker Realty office and a Churchill’s Coffee shop.

Baird said Pub Management is seeking court approval to purchase the Ebbets name and operations for $485,000. Arvest Bank, the only creditor holding secured claims related to Ebbets Field LLC, is listed in the filing as having two secured claims totaling more than $772,000 against the entity.

Ebbets Field was owned by Swisshelm and his wife, Scott and Jodi Swisshelm, Baird’s KTP Enterprises LLC, and Lynn and Terry Allen, before Bruce Swisshelm and Margaret Laughlin-Swisshelm sold their interests to Robert and Lori Bolks in November, five months ahead of the bankruptcy filing. According to court records, the Bolkses and Scott and Jodi Swisshelm relinquished their interests to Baird and the Allens on March 30.

David Schroeder, the Springfield bankruptcy attorney representing SFO Missouri Inc. and Ebbets Field LLC, did not return calls for comment.

The 31-year-old Ebbets Field operated on East Cherry Street until 1993, when Missouri State University purchased the site via eminent domain. Ebbets founder Nick Russo moved the restaurant to 1027 E. Walnut St.

Web Editor Geoff Pickle contributed to this article.[[In-content Ad]]