• 
• CLASS
• JOBS
• AUTO
• HOMES

Workers bustling to get Lake Lawn ready by end of the month

Photo

Photo by Lukas Keapproth

A crew works on resurfacing the entrance at the recently reopened Fairlawn Golf Course in Delavan. While the course opened last weekend, the new owners of Lake Lawn Resort hope to have rooms available for guests by June 24.

DELAVAN — One view from the front doors of Lake Lawn Resort is the summery sight of golfers in bright shirts swinging their clubs around the course.

Another is workers in bright shirts running chain saws and grappling sections of trees into dump trucks. A concrete saw screams through a section of curb near the front of the resort.

Both views are welcome sights for the guests and employees who have been waiting since the resort closed in December.

The golf course opened last weekend, and more than 100 golfers hit the greens on Memorial Day, said Jim Drescher, the head of an investment group that in May bought the resort for $9.5 million.

The marina also is open. The next big order of business is to get phone lines set up so vacationers can reserve rooms. Drescher hopes the phones will be working by next week, and the goal is to open the resort for guests by Friday, June 24, said Kris Keyes, Drescher's assistant.

Drescher wants Lake Lawn's regulars to be pleasantly surprised when they pull up for a stay.

"You only get one chance to impress," he said.

Trees have been trimmed along the drive and around the entrances of the lodge-themed resort.

Workers are replacing concrete, repaving the parking lot and repairing the roof.

The entrance to the hotel smells of fresh lemon cleaner. The lobby soon will have a new coat of paint and new furniture, Keyes said.

The rooms themselves are in great shape, and in theory could be ready immediately. But the hotel has no food or amenities to offer at this time, Drescher said.

A health inspection is planned this week.

The rooms and bedding will get a final cleaning before they are opened for guests.

Drescher is working in phases and doesn't expect to have every aspect of the resort open by the end of the month.

"We can't be everything to everybody at the get-go," Drescher said.

About 30 people have come back to work at the resort so far, and department heads are calling former employees to let them know about an upcoming job fair.

Among the hustle of repairs, Drescher has not had time to play Lake Lawn's reopened golf course, although he has driven it several times.

The course is in pretty good shape, although the grass is slightly yellow from the stress of being cut after growing tall, Drescher said. A handful of golfers were out Wednesday morning, and some have bought memberships, Keyes said.

Janesville resident Jim Terrill was one of those who golfed over the weekend. He typically hits the course a couple times a year and was pleasantly surprised at the shape it's in. The greens are a little slower than normal, and the grass on the fairways is a little longer than normal, but "all things considered" it was good golfing, Terrill said.

"When I was done, I stopped in the golf club and told the guys I was pretty pleased," he said. "It's not in great shape, they're getting there. It was nice to see it open."