Izatys Enjoying A Good Year

It’s been a long time since we wrote about Izatys Resort on Mille Lacs Lake’s southern shore.  We last featured the resort when Faribault businessman Roy Winjum appeared poised to purchase the place in the spring of 2010.

Despite an ominous delay in his quest to buy, Izatys has been thriving this summer, according to Jason Tollette.  He and his wife, Sherry,  are running the iconic venue for a consortium of banks, who actually took title to the place in the winter of 2008-2009.  The resort was named a 2011 Minnesota Best Resort and Yacht Club by the TV show the Official Best Of.com recently.  Click on this link for a U Tube video on the award.

By all accounts, the numbers are up at Izatys.  More rentals at the Links Lodge, lakeside townhomes, beach villas and Village timeshares.  Revenue is way up at Club 19, the bar and restaurant, Tollette said recently.  Chef Kevin Aho has done wonders in the kitchen and has developed a loyal following in the Mille Lacs area, a place starved for fine dining after the demise of Carlsonna.  Steve Tideman has tended to Walleye World and you’ll see the Lady of the Lake out on the Big Pond at least 3-4 days a week loaded with folks wanting to catch walleye.

Despite one of the more rain-laden summers on record, even golf rounds are up at Blackbrook Golf Course. Kudos go out to Steve Schumacher and Mike Edin and their staff, who have kept the course playable and in good condition throughout a year where soggy has been the norm.

The golf guys have nearly resuscitated a new front nine of Sanctuary Golf Course.  There are reseeded greens, newly cut fairways and only the bunkers need to be redone, coupled with some drainage issues on the second and sixth holes before it could become playable. It appears that it won’t open until 2012, however.

The only thing missing right now at Izatys is an owner with some financial wherewithal.  Commerce Bank and a bevy of other banks are probably getting tired of holding the property as they enter their fourth year of ownership.  The banks recently decided to relist the property as Winjum’s purchase offer has expired.  At present, we’re told he is still in the mix but is trying to get further financing in his quest to put a 250-space RV park on the property, which would be located in the southwest corner, site of the old back nine holes of Sanctuary Golf Course.

Despite the uptick in business, Izatys also continues to show signs of its age and continued neglect. The clubhouse, Links Lodge and cart paths on the golf course are all in need of a facelift.  A new walking bridge that connects the east side of the resort with the clubhouse is also badly needed. New roofs, siding, pavement and a bridge would do wonders to spruce things up.  But until a new owner takes over, it appears those items will continue to be put on hold.

I should give Kudos to the Tollettes, who have toiled with Izatys for the last two seasons.  Without their vision and efforts, it would be a tossup if the resort would even be open. Remember, they were banking that the resort would be sold by July 1, 2010, so they have weathered a lot of highs and lows since.  Jason was the realtor as well, hoping to cash in on a nice paycheck when it sold.  But all of that hasn’t worked out to this point.

So where are things going, people ask?  Unfortunately, nobody knows.  Until a buyer can be found, it appears that Izatys will continue to operate, be busy and get by, helping make Mille Lacs a great place to vacation.