TOWN OF LIBERTY GROVE, WI (WTAQ- WLUK) — Owners of a Door County resort say they hope to reopen in the spring, following Tuesday’s devastating fire.
Because of the extent of the damage to Rowleys Bay Resort near Ellison Bay, all resort and food service departments will be closed until further notice. Those who planned to stay at the resort were asked to make alternate arrangements, and those who were already there received help from the Red Cross on finding a place to stay.
Owners were on site Wednesday trying to take account of the damage.
“We were able to save some important things that were important to us, like the murals. They were in another entrance,” said Jewel Peterson Ouradnik, owner of the resort. “There’s a lot of heads that have to come together to see how much it’s worth, and everything. We’ve never been through this before and were going to take it one step at a time. But only God knows, he knows, we’re just really trusting in that and we know there’s a reason, and we don’t know what it is.”
Nick P., a guest from Indiana who declined to give his last name, lost possessions in the blaze.
“Sure enough, we kept on seeing fire trucks, and I looked at my wife and said ‘someone is in trouble.’ We got back and yeah. Our suitcases, everything was in the room, just like all the other people, and it’s all destroyed and we’re just trying to regroup.”
The seven-decade-old Rowleys Bay Resort comprises more than 100 acres along the shore of Lake Michigan.
Investigators are still working to determine how the fire started.
