The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) today terminated the lease agreement with Rend Lake Resort, Inc. and intends to seek a new operator for the Rend Lake Resort and Conference Center, located on Rend Lake at Wayne Fitzgerrell State Recreation Area in southern Illinois.
IDNR has several concerns about the condition of the buildings at the Rend Lake Resort and Conference Center. Mold, peeling paint, and other potential health and safety related discoveries led the Department to have safety concerns for visitors to the resort.
“The health and safety of Illinoisans is paramount,” IDNR Director Wayne Rosenthal said. “The department must take these steps to protect families and valuable state assets.”
The resort operator notified IDNR this week that it planned to close the facility.
The lease termination follows a notice from IDNR to Rend Lake Resort, Inc. last month that the firm was delinquent in rent and related lease payments totaling more than $205,000. The IDNR is also of the understanding that the operator owes $14,000 in real estate taxes, $21,000 in utility payments, and $47,000 in hotel operator’s taxes.
The Rend Lake Resort and Conference Center, which opened in 1990, has 104 hotel rooms, suites, and cabins adjoining the lake, and a conference center including meeting rooms and banquet facilities. The resort also has a restaurant and bar, boat docks and boat rentals, an outdoor swimming pool and tennis court.
Activities and outdoor recreation opportunities at the Wayne Fitzgerrell State Recreation Area and the 19,000-acre Rend Lake include boating, fishing, hunting, trail riding, wildlife watching, swimming, and field dog trial grounds.
