Investigation into cause of fire at former Pheasant Run Resort expected to last several weeks

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Office of the State Fire Marshall is working with the St. Charles police and fire departments to determine the cause of the fire that destroyed several buildings at the former Pheasant Run Resort in St. Charles over the weekend.

The investigation is expected to last several weeks. Bourbon Street and A, B, E wings of the hotel rooms at Pheasant Run have been destroyed, according to a release from the St. Charles Fire Department.

One unit from the St. Charles Fire Department is continuing to put out hot spots after the massive fire that broke out Saturday afternoon at the former Pheasant Run Resort.

No one was injured, but the damage to several structures is extensive. Crews were able to save the 16-story tower on the property.

An investigation to determine the cause of the fire continues. St. Charles Deputy Police Chief Erik Mahan said the department has no indication of squatters or people living on the property.

“There have been some instances of vandalism, such as broken windows, over the last year or so,” he said in an email. “Our officers regularly check the property during patrol shifts and the property owner has provided for private security patrols as well.”

[ Photos: Fire at former Pheasant Run ]

St. Charles Fire Chief Scott Swanson said in an email that “there were many windows damaged throughout the complex well prior to the fire on Saturday.”

St. Charles firefighters arrived at the scene at 4:45 p.m. Saturday and found several buildings on fire. More than 20 area fire departments assisted St. Charles firefighters in battling the fires.

The firefighters worked to cut off the spread of the fires in every direction. Large handlines, portable monitors and elevated master streams were used in their efforts.

Many onlookers gathered on East Main Street in front of the resort to watch the fire. The parking lot of a Walmart across the road was packed with cars, many of which were there to watch the flames that were consuming the historic resort.

Among those were Kristen and Mike Tosaw of St. Charles, who had their wedding reception in Pheasant Run Resort’s New Orleans Ballroom 18 years ago on Sunday.

“It’s very sad,” Kristen Tosaw said. “It’s sad to watch your wedding venue burn. It was a great hotel. We took our kids there when they were little just to go swimming. I think it’s a sad ending to a place that’s been so much a part of this area.”

As a kid, Mike Tosaw, who grew up in Aurora, would go to Pheasant Run for Easter buffets, he said. As a football coach at St. Charles North High School, he would hold coaching clinics at Pheasant Run.

“I’m sad to see it go,” he said.

Large plumes of black smoke could be seen coming from the former resort on East Main Street.

Pheasant Run closed its doors in March 2020 after a failed attempt to auction the resort, which first opened in 1963. GSI Family Investments of Arizona purchased the Pheasant Run Resort golf course from the DuPage Airport Authority for about $11.3 million and proposes to build four industrial buildings encompassing more than 1 million square feet of space along with 13 acres of stormwater detention.

The 84.6-acre golf course is south of the former Pheasant Run Resort buildings, adjacent to DuPage Airport. McGrath Honda is redeveloping the former Pheasant Run Mega Center adjacent to the property.

There are no current plans to redevelop the resort property. The St. Charles City Council has voiced interest that a tax increment financing district be established on the former Pheasant Run Resort property in order to spur its redevelopment.

At the March 21 City Council meeting, alderpersons approved an inducement resolution, which expresses the city’s intent to establish a TIF district and negotiate a redevelopment agreement that may provide for reimbursement from TIF revenue for TIF expenditures incurred by the developer, St. Charles Community Development Director Russell Colby said in a memo to alderpersons.