Fire-Ravaged St. Charles Resort Faces Big Building Code Fines

The owner of the shuttered Pheasant Run Resort in St. Charles is facing hefty daily fines of up to $6,000 for multiple building code violations, according to a ruling by administrative adjudication officer Sam Bonilla on Friday.

Officials for the suburb west of Chicago have accused the resort — which had its 14-story tower badly damaged in a 2021 fire — of eight violations, including unsafe structures and equipment, failure to demolish unsafe property and failure to maintain interior and exterior structures, among others, the Daily Herald reported. Bonilla’s ruling allows the city to impose fines of up to $750 per day for each violation.

In response to the charges, Patrick Griffin, the attorney for Miami Beach-based landlord St. Charles Resort LLC, argued that the owner never received a detailed list of required corrective actions from the city. Last month, the city announced its intent to sue the property owner within 15 days in order to pursue court-ordered demolition of the fire-ravaged building.

He also revealed that the owner postponed a structural evaluation of the buildings, anticipating demolition. Griffin stated that if the city proceeds with the demolition, the owners would not oppose it. They have also obtained cost estimates for demolishing a portion of a barn, reinforcing two smaller buildings, and shoring up a wall in the barn.

However, Griffin admitted that there were limitations to preventing trespassing onto the property, which has officials concerned because of the unsafe status of the structures. The owners agreed to board up all windows on the resort’s main tower. The city’s assistant director of community development, Allen Fennell, acknowledged some progress but stressed that the actions taken so far were insufficient.
The resort, which first opened its doors in 1963, closed in 2020. The building’s troubles began in May 2021 when four teenagers broke in and started a fire in the tower, causing extensive damage. Another, smaller fire occurred in the tower last month. No injuries were reported in either incident. On August 28, five trespassers were charged with misdemeanor trespassing after gaining access to the tower’s roof.

— Sam Lounsberry