March 28, 2024
Local News | Kane County Chronicle


Local News

Former, current Pheasant Run employees set to gather at Farewell to Pheasant Run Festival

Will take place Monday at Spotted Fox Ale House in St. Charles

With the future of Pheasant Run Resort up in the air, former and current Pheasant Run employees will gather Monday for a Farewell to Pheasant Run Festival at Spotted Fox Ale House in St. Charles.

ST. CHARLES – With the future of Pheasant Run Resort up in the air, former and current Pheasant Run employees will gather Monday for a Farewell to Pheasant Run Festival at Spotted Fox Ale House in St. Charles.

"Please join those who've been a part of it at this informal gathering to talk, laugh, reminisce, get closure, commiserate, get nostalgic, enjoy the company of those you like, talk about the ones you don't, well-wish, catch up, say goodbye, eat drink and most of all celebrate being a part of Pheasant Run for however long your run lasted," the invitation states.

The restaurant is open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. and those who attend are invited to show up anytime during those hours. The city had previously received a letter from Hostmark Hospitality Group about Pheasant Run's proposal to restructure, which included a plan to lay off 149 of the resort's approximately 190 employees by mid-January.

The first layoffs are set to start Sunday. Pheasant Run now tentatively plans to lay off an additional 42 employees starting Feb. 29.

An online auction to sell the 293-room resort has been pushed back. The auction, which was originally set to take place Jan. 27-29, is now set for Feb. 10-12, according to the website ten-x.com. Bidding starts at $2 million.

On its Facebook page, Pheasant Run has stated that it plans to remain open.

"We are moving to a limited service model," Pheasant Run stated. "We do not have plans to close at this time."

The Zanies Comedy Club at Pheasant Run Resort has closed.

Colliers International real estate services and investment management company had previously listed Pheasant Run as being for sale on its website. During the recession in 2011, the 293-room resort at 4051 E. Main St. went into foreclosure. A hotel investors group in 2014 bought Pheasant Run, which since then has been managed by Schaumburg-based Hostmark Hospitality Group.

Hostmark was required to notify the city of the pending layoffs as part of the Illinois Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, which requires employers with 75 or more full-time employees to give workers and state and local government officials 60 days advance notice of a plant closing or mass layoff.

Edward McArdle opened Pheasant Run Resort in February 1963 on land that was previously a dairy farm owned by Colonel Edward Baker.