Rising from the ashes: Grand Bear Villas on schedule for spring 2024 completion

It wasn’t necessarily an ideal summer for building, as the contractors sometimes wilted in the heat, but the many dry weeks have helped spur the fire recovery at Grand Bear Lodge in Utica.

Builders have made tangible progress at the vacation villas located near Starved Rock. Although the project won’t be completed until the spring, Don Aleksy, president of the (phase two) homeowners association, is cautiously optimistic it will reach a critical phase of construction by Thanksgiving.

“The plan is to have everything under roof and enclosed by mid-November,” Aleksy said. “If they meet that timeline, workers can turn their attention to the interior work even if temperatures plunge and snow arrives.

“The contractor is planning to be done no later than the middle of March. I think we’re doing really well.”

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A crew builds new cabin units on Monday, Aug. 28, 2023 at Grand Bear Resort at Starved Rock in Utica. A massive fire destroyed 28 units on Memorial Day Weekend in 2022. (Scott Anderson)

On Memorial Day 2022, gusts up to 40 mph threw burning embers from a charcoal grill onto one of the Grand Bear vacation homes, and the resulting fire spread quickly. Seven buildings, a total of 28 vacation units, would erupt into a blaze that would take 57 fire companies to be controlled.

As it was a bad break for homeowners, they were lucky on one count. Four months earlier, the homeowners association had reevaluated their insurance coverage and sought out more comprehensive protection.

“I’m thankful we adjusted the coverage,” Aleksy said previously. “At this point, everything is covered.”

The concrete and foundation work took a long time, easily the slowest portion of the rebuild, even though the supply chain issues that had dogged contractors during the COVID-19 pandemic are mostly over, and many construction products were more readily available.

With 72,000 square feet to rebuild, it still remains a big project, and contractors have sought out the most fire-resistant products to minimize the odds of a repeat occurrence.