When the Charlotte City Club opened 60 years ago, women had to enter through a side door. Those who did were mostly wives, mothers and daughters of the all-male membership. Women couldn't come inside until after 4:30 in the afternoon.

And women couldn't set foot on the third floor, where men sometimes napped in their underwear, according to Charlotte writer Jack Claiborne's 2007 history of the club.

Sixty years later, the City Club has embraced its first woman president. And she's definitely not the type to enter through a side door.

Barbara Laughlin's leadership comes at a halcyon time for the uptown private club. In the past two years, it has completed a $3 million renovation, opened a popular grill room for casual dining and boosted its lucrative event business.

And the club, despite the growth in uptown restaurants and the downturn in the economy, retains a healthy membership of 1,260 and a growing roster of affinity groups, such as its Vintners Club, says manager John Scharer. One measure of its success: in 2007, it served 10,000 more meals than it did in 2006, he says.

Scharer gives credit to Laughlin, who has been at the forefront of the club's improvements over the last several years, he says. She became president in February.

“Her attention to detail is second to none.”

Laughlin, 64, a retired chief information officer for First Union Corp. (now Wachovia Corp.), also gets kudos from fellow board members.

“She's one of the sharpest people I've ever met,” says Marty Ruegsegger, a retired Piedmont Gas executive. “She's so quick and lively.”

The City Club occupies the 31st and 32nd floors of the Interstate Building at Trade and Tryon, offering cityscape views from its well-appointed rooms. On her way to lunch in the formal dining room last week, Laughlin stopped every few steps to chat with friends, acquaintances and staff.

She says that when First Union hired her from M&T Bank in upstate New York in 1998, it offered her a membership to either the City Club or the Tower Club. She says she chose the City Club for its setting and ambience. (The Tower Club closed in 2004.)

Laughlin was no stranger to private clubs. Before coming to Charlotte, she held executive positions at several banks in New York and was president and chief operating officer of Citicorp Savings of Florida. Most of her high-level jobs came with club memberships, usually at clubs that had few female members.

Early in her career, she realized the growing importance of information technology and gravitated toward those jobs. Her expertise in a key field that few women had mastered led to higher-level jobs in banks.

Laughlin grew up and attended college in Chicago, marrying and moving to California to accommodate her husband's career.

After the couple divorced, she juggled her own career moves with raising a son. When she got to Charlotte, she says, she finally found a place to put down roots.

She retired from First Union in 2001 and stepped up community activities. She became active on key City Club committees and was elected to the board. She says her fellow board members, mostly men, nudged her toward the presidency.

“Last year, the fellows made a great leap of faith,” she says. The club unanimously approved the slate of officers that she headed. When she was announced as the first woman president, the membership gave her a standing ovation.

As well as personal charm, she has a disarming directness that club members like. Ruegsegger says he particularly likes her crisp style of running meetings. As president, she presides over or attends about 50 meetings a year.

Laughlin's goals for the club include finishing up minor renovation projects, recruiting more women and minorities and enhancing the club's future prospects. She points out that its lease is up by 2020 and the club will either have to find new quarters or renovate again.

“We're hoping to build a war chest of $15 million by then,” she says. She declines to specify how much savings the club has, but notes it has “a significant investment account.”

The club now has about 200 women members, or about 16 percent. The number of women has tripled over the past decade, Scharer estimates. Most applicants for membership are men, but Scharer notes that wives of members have the same privileges as their husbands.

Women gained full membership to the club in 1978.

Last year, the club served 63,000 meals, up from 53,000 in 2006. The trend has continued upward this year, Scharer says.

This year it will host about 50 wedding receptions, its strongest year ever, he notes. There are already 30 lined up for next year. Special events, says Scharer, are a primary source of revenue.

Scharer says he's seeing the results of a slowing economy only in memberships. A few companies have stopped paying for memberships for higher-level employees, and some left the club. That's been mostly offset with vigorous recruiting, he says. Initiation fees range from $750 to $4,000, and dues are $134 a month.

Laughlin says the club will always face competition, but its future looks bright.

“It has been here for over 60 years and is still a desirable place to be,” Anne Cooper Schout, a member and friend of Laughlin, agrees.

Says Laughlin: “We still offer views, ambience and food that is superb.”