WHITTINGTON (WSIL) â€� The Rend Lake Resort needs some work. Â
"The amount of money they’re offering for a sector of this, I don’t know, is it enough? Probably not, so whoever is going to get this� is going to have to bring a lot of money with it," Garden Grove Event Center owner Dirk Borgsmiller said.
Borgsmiller represents one of 10 vendors interested in taking over operations at the Rend Lake Resort, a facility that has been closed since December 2016. Those businesses met at the resort Thursday as part of a mandatory meeting to submit bids.
"We’re interested in pieces of the accommodations that would compliment weddings and events and conferences and seminars as opposed to making it a full blown resort," Borgsmiller said.
When the Illinois Department of Natural Resources attempted to bring in someone to take over operations the first time, the possible vendor had to take over everything.
"For a lot of people, that’s a lot of work, so that’s one of those reasons why we decided to break that up and I think that’s why we see quite a few people here today because there are additional options," IDNR deputy director Rachel Torbert said.
The state is also offering up to $1.5 million for additional work that still needs to be done.
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Borgsmiller said he plans on submitting a bid, but there’s a lot that goes into that. He’s also concerned about the facility’s future if no one’s able to take over.
"Honestly, I think this is probably the last go around," Borgsmiller said. "It’s been closed. It’s missed three seasons. Anybody that had family reunions or vacations or weekends in the past, this is off their radar screen. So this would have to be completely resurrected, rebranded, remarketed, repositioned in a completed different way than it was before."
Potential bidders have until August 2 to submit their proposals to take over the resorts operations. Torbert said IDNR wants to act as quickly as possible to award a bid to a prospective vendor.
