New Owner Begins Demolition On Grand Lake's Shangri-La Resort

NewsOn6.com

GRAND LAKE, OK -- The new owner of the Shangri-La resort has begun demolishing the eastern Oklahoma landmark.

The resort was bought by Eddy Gibbs earlier this year.  Gibbs owns Tulsa's Ameristar Fence,  which according to its website is the largest ornamental fence manufacturer in the world.

According to the Grand Lake Business Journal, Gibbs bought the property from an ownership group that had plans to tear down the resort and build a new one in its place.

The group had worked for five years trying to redevelop the resort into a first-class destination and had auctioned off everything inside the resort back in 2009.

3/24/2009  Related story: Everything Must Go At Shangri-La Resort 

Shangri-La was built in the mid 60's, but was deemed too outdated to be competitive with other resorts in the region.

According to the Grand Lake Business Journal, the ownership group decided to sell to Gibbs because he shared the group's vision for redeveloping the resort. 

The price wasn't released, but the chairman of the group said it would allow Gibbs to move forward with his plans to redevelop the property.

His first step is to build a 12,000 square foot clubhouse which is scheduled to be completed next spring.

The clubhouse will be two stories, with a pro shop and golf cart storage on the first level and a restaurant and bar and a fitness center on the second.

Gibbs hasn't decided on the exact location of the clubhouse yet, but his plans also include eventually building a hotel.

The demolition is supposed to last all week.

The huge eagle sculpture removed from the building will be re-installed on the new clubhouse.