It was 1919. President Woodrow Wilson was in office, WWI ended just one year earlier and Babe Ruth just set the season homer mark at 28 off of Yankee Bob Shawkey. In an era America was thriving on hard work, strong character and traditional past times, the idea for the Dallas Athletic Club was inspired. It was then a group of local businessmen pledged one-hundred dollars each to build the eight story downtown athletic facility, complete with a barber shop, billiards, guest and residential suites, ballrooms, dining rooms, lounges, handball and squash courts, swimming pools, gymnasiums, and a health services department. W.E. Greiner, the primary visionary for the project, was elected by the eleven founders as president of the Club. The charter was issued on January 9, 1920 with an operating fund of ten thousand dollars and the first event was a party held in the excavation site of the building, as construction was behind schedule.