There will likely be some under-employed staff at Shannon Lake Golf Course this summer, according to the general manager.
John Jacoby said he doesn’t want to see people lose their jobs, but after fire razed the restaurant and pro-shop in the early hours of Saturday morning, no one is needed to serve the Granville Island beer still advertised on a sandwich board at the building’s entrance.
This was the first year the golf course was to operate its own food and beverage service, having taken over the restaurant from a contractor.
“We’ll still need people to run the golf course, but there is no restaurant or pro shop left,” said Jacoby.
There is also still no way to know if the golf clubs and shoes people might have stored in the building’s basement can be salvaged.
West Kelowna RCMP have taken over the fire investigation and are looking at it as an arson, according to RCMP spokesman Cnst. Kris Clark. The building is on lock-down.
From the outside, it’s clear the kitchen of the building is untouched, ruling out kitchen fire, and fire crews told Jacoby the evening of the fire that the electrical was not an issue. He believes the ignition point was identified on the outside of the building, but cannot be sure; he arrived at 3 a.m. just as the building remnants were being doused.
“Much of what was downstairs in the building is untouched by fire and the water damage. The records should be fine,” he said, noting he’s really hoping this is the case. No membership files would mean a lot of work.
For the 10 or 12 people he figures might need replacement clubs, it will mean a household insurance claim. It will be up to the members themselves to replace equipment with household insurance claims, Jacoby said. Adjustors have already visited to help the golf course begin the claim process.
In the meantime, golfers were just working their way around the building Monday as a security guard watched the site from a chair.
There is no official indication as to how or why it started.
