DuPage gets $5.6 million for golf clubhouse destroyed in fire
The DuPage County Forest Preserve's insurance carrier will pay $5.6 million to cover the loss of a golf course clubhouse in a fire ignited by a lightning strike.
Forest preserve commissioners approved the second of three insurance claims Tuesday related to the February clubhouse fire at Oak Meadows Golf Course in Addison. Previously, commissioners agreed on a $425,000 payout for the loss of contents in the fire. The remaining claim relates to loss of business from the fire.
Deputy Director of Operations Mike Palazzetti said the district's insurance carrier has already paid about $600,000 to the district. He added that no decision has been made regarding replacement of the 86-year-old structure. The insurance payout does not require the district to rebuild the facility.
Forest preserve officials have hinted that rebuilding the banquet center may not be the best fiscal move for the district. Forest preserve commission President Dewey Pierotti said the banquet operations at Oak Meadows have always "lost money" because the district can't compete with the operational costs of a private company. The commission may instead choose to build a smaller facility and consolidate other golf operations in the new building.
"Once all this settles down we're going to discuss various options out there," said forest preserve commission President Dewey Pierotti. "Depending on what we build there, any leftover money will be spent on the Oak Meadows property to fix greens or do maintenance out there or what have you."
A study done before the fire indicated rebuilding a clubhouse at the golf course would cost about $6.5 million, but Palazzetti said the cost to do that has gone up since the study was finalized.
It took nearly five hours for more than 100 firefighters from 26 agencies to fully extinguish the blaze that destroyed the building. Forest preserve police first responded to the building after a burglar alarm went off at 7:01 p.m. Feb. 26. Fire officials believe the burglar alarm was tripped by the force of the lightning strike to the roof.
Because the burglar alarm sounded and not the fire alarm, the officer had to wait for backup to enter about a half-hour after the alarm was tripped. Upon entering, the officers reported nothing unusual and found no signs of a break-in, but about 20 minutes into their search one of the officers smelled smoke and reported the fire.
Arson investigators said the fire spread through the building's roof and raged virtually undetected because of the many layers of roofing that had been added over the years. The investigators also determined through a check with the National Weather Service that a lightning strike occurred in the area of the clubhouse at about 7 p.m. the night the fire broke out.