Staff Writer
The owners of the 80-room Savannah Lakes Resort at Thurmond Lake abruptly closed the facility this week.
File
Owners of Savannah Lakes Resort at Thurmond Lake blamed the economy for shuttering the conference center.
"Based on the current business climate, it is with great disappointment and careful consideration that we have decided to temporarily shut down operations at the resort, effective today," said an e-mail, dated Tuesday and sent by resort manager Austin T. Trupp to residents of nearby Savannah Lakes Village.
The resort and lodge is a separate entity from the nearby Savannah Lakes Village, which has two 36-hole golf courses and a large residential community, said Tom Krueger, the president of the Savannah Lakes Propertyowners Association board.
Those adjoining facilities are in sound financial condition and are not shutting down, he said. "Our amenities are owned by the residents and membership."
The waterfront conference center in McCormick County was formerly part of Arkansas-based Cooper Communities -- which developed Savannah Lakes Village beginning in 1989. It was later pieced out and sold and is currently operated by Trupp Real Estate Group.
Trupp's e-mail cited economic conditions as the reason for shuttering the lodge, which is used for weddings, corporate retreats and other outings and events.
"As you have been well aware, the current real estate market turmoil and continuing credit crisis has kept us all in a very difficult cash flow position for some time," he wrote. "Under great stress, Savannah Lakes Resort has been able to maintain operations and Trupp Real Estate Group has been able to hold this ship together for the past couple of years."
Trupp wrote that he hopes to reopen the resort later this year, but he did not give a date.
