|
Fantasy Lake owners plan to rebuild destroyed clubhouse
HOPE MILLS, Dec 19, 2008 (The Fayetteville Observer - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
The owners of Fantasy Lake have vowed to rebuild after a fire early Thursday destroyed the popular water park's clubhouse.
"It's just a building with a lot of stuff. It can be replaced," said Marjorie Turner, who owns and operates Fantasy Lake with her husband, James. The park is at 5869 Permastone Lake Road in Hope Mills.
The cause of the fire that destroyed the 9,600-square-foot clubhouse is being investigated as an act of arson, said Freddy Johnson, chief of the Stoney Point Fire Department.
"There's evidence that someone gained entry to the park through a fence," Johnson said.
Investigators from the Cumberland County Fire Marshal's Office and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives spent Thursday investigating the cause of the fire.
The loss of the clubhouse won't stop Fantasy Lake from opening in May, Marjorie Turner said.
"People don't come to Fantasy Lake for the building," she said. "They come here for the lake."
And come they have. Since Fairly Jackson built the water park in 1952, thousands of people have enjoyed Fantasy Lake's water slides, sandy shores, paddle boats and Tarzan rope swings, which Turner called the park's biggest attraction.
Mollie Dunn, Fairly Jackson's daughter, took over Fantasy Lake in 1969 with her husband, Cecil. The Dunns later sold the business to Jon Powell and Sonny and Kathy Swanson, who took over as the owners in May 2002. The Turners took over in May 2005.
The clubhouse -- which housed the water park's gift shop, restaurant, showers, office and dressing rooms -- was destroyed, Turner said. Tables, chairs, six pool tables, ATVs, tools, inventory, computers and cash registers were among the destroyed property.
Turner said she couldn't begin to guess the financial setback. The building wasn't insured, she said.
Turner, who lives close to Fantasy Lake, said a neighbor's barking dog alerted her that something was wrong.
"The fire department got there fast, but there was nothing they could do," Turner said. "The building and everything in it ... it was just gone."
The emotional cost is just now taking its toll, Turner said, though she didn't think the fire was a malicious act and can't think of anyone who would want to harm the water park.
"We don't have any enemies. We're just not that kind of people," Turner said. "I feel bad for anybody who feels they need to do something like this."
Turner said she and her husband poured their blood, sweat and tears into the business, especially the clubhouse.
"They were tearing down the bathrooms, and I could see the pink paint in the girls' bathroom and the blue paint in the boys' bathroom. I painted that," Turner said. "We literally did everything ourselves, and now it's gone."
Johnson, the fire chief, said a Cumberland County sheriff's deputy responding to a burglar alarm at 1:23 a.m. noticed that the clubhouse was in flames. The deputy notified the Stoney Point Fire Department, which responded within 3 minutes, Johnson said.
But the damage had been done.
"By the time we got there, flames were already shooting through the roof," Johnson said. "All we could do was fight the fire defensively to prevent any further damage. It was too dangerous at that point to do any interior firefighting."
A pickup truck parked near the shower area where the fire started also was destroyed. Johnson said the fire was contained and caused no damage to other areas of the park.
More than 100 firefighters from 12 departments across Cumberland, Hoke and Robeson counties fought the blaze through the night, using 23 fire trucks and four support trucks.
Backup trucks were called to shuttle water from more than 2miles away because the nearest water source -- 220 feet from the building -- didn't provide enough pressure, Johnson said. Firefighters couldn't pull water from the lake because it had been drained for the winter, he said.
Fire crews worked until 7a.m. Thursday to finish putting out hot spots, Johnson said. The brunt of the fire was extinguished by 5 a.m.
"It was a long night," Johnson said. "I'm tired."
Turner said she and her husband plan to build a new clubhouse and hope it will be ready in time for next season.
"We're moving forward," she said. "Even if we have to sell pizza slices out of a cart. This is our life; this is everything we do."
Click arrow in player to start video
Staff writer Brian Dukes can be reached at dukesb@fayobserver.com or 323-4848, ext. 411.
To see more of The Fayetteville Observer, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go
to http://www.fayettevillenc.com/. Copyright (c) 2008, The Fayetteville
Observer, N.C. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For
reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or
847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group
Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
|
INDUSTRIES
Activate Email 
Find Solutions for Enterprises, SMBs & Service Providers at the INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference and EXPO East, January 20-22, 2010. Miami, FL.
