Dennis Walters, President of the ownership company for the 55-year-old club in St. Charles, Mo., is already making plans to rebuild “bigger and better” as the club’s staff works with other area venues to rebook a full slate of weddings and other events. “The phone did not stop ringing,” said Peter Christo, General Manager of Old Hickory GC, in reporting 70 calls from couples who needed to find new sites.
An early-morning fire on February 17 destroyed the landmark clubhouse of Bogey Hills Country Club in St. Charles, Mo., the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
Assistant Chief Steve Brown with Central County Fire and Rescue of St. Charles (Mo.) County said it took about three hours to put out the blaze, which broke out shortly before midnight on February 16, the Post-Dispatch reported.
The cause had yet to be determined and the state fire marshal’s office is assisting with the investigation, Brown said. The state agency is brought in on any fire with a “large dollar loss like this,” he said.
More than 50 firefighters from four departments took part in quelling the fire in the three-story wood building, the Post-Dispatch reported. The flames were “tremendously high,” Brown said, and some onlookers estimated they reached 50 feet high.
No one was injured, Brown added.
Bogey Hills CC was opened in 1962 by the Walters family on the site of an older golf course that had been closed since World War II, the Post-Dispatch reported.
The 9-hole operation expanded to 18 holes in 1972; it became a private club in 1980, and now has more than 350 members. But many other residents also were familiar with the clubhouse, the site over the years for countless weddings, other social functions and civic meetings, the Post-Dispatch reported.
Parts of the building date to 1926, and there were additions in 1972, 1982 and 1990.
Dennis Walters, President of the company that has owned the club for three generations, said the clubhouse will be rebuilt, the Post-Dispatch reported. “We’re just going to make it bigger and better,” Walters said.
Walters said the club’s golf course remained in good shape and was hopeful it could reopen by around February 22. Golf bags were saved by firefighters, the Post-Dispatch reported.
“I was 17 when my dad bought this building, I’m 72 now,” Walters said. “It’s not only been my life for a number of years, but for a lot of members of the club.”
The club’s management staff was already working to help find new locations for wedding receptions and other events that had been booked for the clubhouse in upcoming weeks, Walters told the Post-Dispatch. A business-related party scheduled for the night of February 17 was moved to an area hotel, he said.
Three service organizations—two Kiwanis clubs and a Rotary club—will have to find new locations for their weekly Bogey Hills lunch meetings, the Post-Dispatch reported.
Craig Felzien, of O’Fallon, Mo., a retired AT&T executive, said he was among many club members who showed up Friday morning to see the charred structure and lend some moral support to the Walters family, the Post-Dispatch reported.
“This place means a lot to our community,” Felzien said. “So many meetings, lunches and breakfasts. It’s not just about the golf. It was very special.”
Television station KTVI Fox 2 reported that the clubhouse was considered a total loss. Once fire crews got inside to try and get the fire out, KTVI reported, the flames became too intense and firefighters had to get out of the building.
“[The clubhouse was an] extremely large, wooden structure without any fire suppression,” said Assistant Fire Chief Brown from the Central County Fire & Rescue told KTVI. “Once the fire got into the concealed spaces up in the attic, it ran the building and there was nothing we can do.”
Angel Walters-Likens, Bogey Hills’ General Manager, told KTVI that she was devastated.
“[I’m] still in shock [and I] can’t believe it’s actually happening,” Walters-Likens said.
“This is our baby. I know the ins and outs of this place,” she added. “I know everything about it. I live right next door.”
“I grew up here as a little kid, as well as a lot of other members,” Walter-Likens said. “We’re all one big family here. It’s just so surreal; it’s very surreal.”
Walters-Likens told KTVI that she knew the building was going to be a loss when she arrived at the scene and saw the fire herself.
“The back half of the clubhouse that overlooks the 18th green was in flames, and I pretty much knew then that it was going to go,” she said.
While the family plans to rebuild, Walters-Likens said her more immediate was accommodating the people who had scheduled bookings at the venue.
“We’re reaching out to all of those brides, all of those parties, we’re reaching out to all other country clubs, all other venues, to try and get our brides and parties moved,” she said. “Obviously, our staff will be there to help in that process.”
Video of the fire and KTVI’s interview with Walters-Likens can be viewed at http://fox2now.com/2017/02/17/owners-of-country-club-destroyed-in-fire-hope-to-rebuild
Television KMOV 4 of St. Louis reported that other country clubs in St. Charles County were scrambling to try and help couples that needed to rebook their weddings after the fire.
“The phone did not stop ringing,” said Peter Christo, General Manager of the Old Hickory Golf Club in St. Charles.
Christo said he took at least 70 calls on Friday from couples, and that his club and others were working to reassure them they could hold receptions.
Among those couples was Rachel Ahrens and Aaron Kerwood, who booked their reception at the Old Hickory Club.
“We’re very relieved we found something,” Ahrens told KMOV after signing the paperwork and managing a smile after a difficult day.
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