Thomas Barnes, director of many Pittsburgh nightclubs, dies at 71

For decades, Thomas H. Barnes helped give people in Pittsburgh a place to go after dark.

From The Boardwalk to Heaven and Chauncy’s, Barnes helped shape some of the city’s best-known nightclubs and restaurants.

Barnes, 71, of Greenfield, died Sept. 22 as a result of heart failure. He worked as vice president and director of operations for some of the region’s most iconic nightclubs and restaurants.

Born May 7, 1955, Barnes lived his whole life in “The Run” in Greenfield. He attended Pittsburgh Allderdice High School and Robert Morris University, where he studied business.

“He loved hockey,” said Barnes’ sister, Sandra Barnes Rook. “Not just watching the Penguins, but he played hockey. He played in high school and college.”

He found his calling at a young age.

“He was working as a beer rep, basically,” said Rook. “The V.I.P. in Bridgeville was one of the places that he called on, and that’s where he met Tom Jayson, the owner. That’s how he started bartending there, and the rest is history.”

Rook said that Barnes provided similar opportunities for many young people throughout his career.

“He was a stepping stone for people in their lives,” she said.

Those people included Pittsburgh Steelers head coach and fellow Greenfield native Mike McCarthy, who Rook said worked at Chauncy’s at one time.

Barnes never married and had no children. Rook said that he frequently traveled to open up new nightclubs and businesses throughout the country; he was involved in businesses from New York down to Florida.

“When they’d go open a club, they’d be working on it basically 19 hours a day, trying to get it together.”

Andrew Lamboley, an advertising executive who was a longtime colleague and friend of Barnes, deeply admired Barnes’ business practices.

“He taught me so much; how to be accountable. What I learned from him is everything matters, even down to what color the napkins are at the bar,” Lamboley said.

The two met when Lamboley was just out of college and selling radio advertising for former Pittsburgh radio station B-94. He sold ads to Barnes for his businesses.

“Coming out of college, new to the media industry, it was intimidating because of his role … but he couldn’t have been nicer. He was fair, he worked hard to get a deal for them but he was also fair to us,” Lamboley said.

Eventually, he opened his own advertising agency, and Barnes was his first client. They even owned the South Side bar the Blue Iguana together, along with a third partner. Barnes had a knack for creating a concept, from the decor to the music to the drinks.

Barnes was making people’s nights at a time when Pittsburgh nightlife was booming, from the Strip District to Downtown to the South Side. Lamboley said that even with so much competition, Barnes knew how to get people to come to his businesses. He was, in fact, the architect of the super-successful Disco Night at Chauncy’s.

Lamboley spent time at many of the clubs, including Matrix, Rock Jungle, the floating complex The Boardwalk and more.

“They were well-run, safe and just a lot of fun,” he said.

In addition to Rook, Barnes is survived by his brother-in-law, Jeff Rook; and nephew, Corey (Alysha) Rook. Sandra Rook said that Barnes was very loving and generous to his nephew.

“He would do parties at these nightclubs in the mornings, like birthday parties,” she said. “That was the coolest thing, whether it was a Halloween or birthday party, (my son) was 11, 12. It was the coolest thing.”

Rook also occasionally worked for Barnes, and she knows many of his friends and employees.

“Some people called him TB, some called him Tom, some called him Mr. Barnes. I called him Tommy,” she said.