Lochmoor Club Faces Rebuilding After Major Fire

0:00Paul W Smith can be found on focus from noon to 2 p.m. on 760 WJR. Now back to J.R. Morning with Chris Renwick, Lloyd Jackson and Jamie Edmonds. Well, historic lock more club and gross point woods sustained heavy fire damage yesterday. Here's who have started in the kitchen spread very, very quickly. And for a club that's over 100 years old. A lot of history has taken place at lock more Jamie's a member there. So let's talk to Tom Jürger. He's a historian at lock more. He was actually inside the building when when it caught fire. Tom, good morning. It's good to have you. Good morning. Hi, Tom Jürger. Actually, it wasn't myself. I was in the building. It was my wife. I was there. Okay. I was hard working. Yeah. I actually saw Kathy and Tom last night when Ryan and I walked over.

1:01All of us are just sort of walking over watching at burn. We're so sad because it's more than just a building. You know, all our family events and all of the things we do socially is there, right, Tom? Exactly. I mean, multi generational is the way it is. And it's not just it's not just the membership. It's the love of the staff that make it so nice for us and always have through the years. And you know, Tom, the club's original, the original clubhouse was destroyed by fire way back in 1924. What do we know? What do we know about how the members and the community kind of rally together to rebuild after that first devastating loss? Well, you know, there's some similarities here. I'm so proud of our board of directors, our president, Tom, has seen marks. As that fire was still raging, they, they convened a meeting to put together contingency plans of those I know nothing, but they, they're getting after it.

2:01And that's how it happened back in 1924. The board of directors met down at the DAC and they got out right away. And the community was very supportive at that time. Now that clubhouse burned down in 1924 and the new one opened up a year later. Wow. And then that, yeah, and it was a really nice building. Unfortunately, the footings went bad on it. And so I knew this, you know, more modern clubhouse had burned down yesterday. That was that was opened. I think it was Thanksgiving day 1969. What about the overall history and what has been saved? Do you know that yet? Well, I'm getting reports that the what we call the LAC or the tennis house. That way in the back of that tennis house are some storage areas. And I had gone through all the archives and there was a lot of them. They were in bankers boxes and things like that. They were on top of each other. They weren't being stored really well.

3:03But I got everything into the, you know, the good rubber made containers. Yeah. So they would be able to withstand water. And my understanding is that that structure did not get affected by the flames. So I'm hopeful it all that's there. Now there was four, you know, display cases that were jammed full of things that were in the in the board of directors in the front. I'm understanding that's all gone. That's all gone. So sadly. And so now you, there's obviously still fire investigations that are going on. There's going to be a lot of work on the investigation side before anything really can happen in earnest. But all of this historical records and memorabilia and trophies and photographs that you have. How do you imagine that that is going to. Is going to shape the way that this club will look in the years to come.

4:03Well, I, you know, I hope to get as much as that information out to, you know, to instill the, you know, the family pride, a lot more clubs that, you know, we've been through many things. We've been through two pandemics. We've been through a world, you know, couple world wars, the Great Depression. And yet we still stand in this. This fire is not going to stop us. And you know, given that lot more, I mean, it successfully overcame that fire back in 1924 and built this a century long legacy afterwards. How does that history, really of resilience, give you hope for the clubs next chapter today. I have great confidence that as I said, I'm so proud of our board, you know, convening so quickly. I think it's a, it's just kind of the nature of this, this town, we're, we're gritty people in the Detroit area. And we don't let things like this knock us down.

5:05I really, I really feel that from the inception of this club that, that's the way it was. And it is. Tom, do we know anything about our beloved staff members who've, you know, seen Olivia grow up. Like it's the same people every day when you walk in there, you know, Steve at the front and Karen and Ryan behind the bar. So, do we know anything about the employees because we're not going to have a place to go eat for a while. No, I know nothing about that. I know nothing about that. I saw a lot of them had had come over and we're, you know, kind of huddled together watching. Yeah. You know, before the sun went down. But I know nothing about any of the plans. But that is, that is, that is very, that's a very sad aspect. And this is their life and, and their job. So, yeah. Yeah. No, it's a, it's a terrible situation all the way around. Thankfully, it sounds like nobody was hurt though, which is.

6:07That's the big thing. Yes. The best news of all of this. Tom Jürger, we appreciate your time this morning. Thank you so much. And keep us up to date on this and we'll continue to follow the story. Sounds good. And if you ever want to know some of the crazy history there, I'm happy to. Happy to share that. Yeah. No, thank you, Tom. Appreciate it. Okay. Yeah. We'll talk soon. But I mean, Jamie, my goodness. I mean, we've seen other historic clubhouses go up in flames. Yeah. And hills recently, just a few years ago. Yeah. So, I mean, you know, this is a long road now, a long process for you guys to lock more. Well, yeah. And just like the family aspect of it is what, you know, I'm thinking of, of course, with the Santa branches and her birthday parties and everything we do over there. That's what makes me sad and all my friends were chatting. We've been chatting since yesterday. But the thing that I've gone through this year does put it into perspective. Yeah. I'm sure. I'm sure. It's a building. It will be rebuilt and the legacy of Lockmore will continue. I mean, what Tom said, I was surprised. Is it even back in 1924 when it was destroyed by fire? They had it back up and rebuilt in the year.

7:16So, you know, I think things are a little different now. I would think I would think it would be a little easier now. Like it would probably be harder back then because we have different equipment, different things now that we can do. So, you know, if they did it in a year back then, the 24 after we could probably do it. The process is a little more difficult now. A little more laborious, a little more red tape. And like, you don't want to prove a process. Yeah. Right. Right. You don't want to go on health. Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. You don't want bad footing on that next on the fourth iteration of the clubhouse at Lockmore. But thankfully nobody was hurt. You know, the thing you guys weren't there. Yes. You know, but but again, it's now it's the rebuilding process. I mean, it's a lot of memories, but I think who memories now? Once this is back up and running. That's right. Everything will be nice and new and yeah. Yeah. All right. We'll take a break coming up on the other side. What are some of the top tips for recent college grads when it comes to growing their careers? We'll talk about it coming up with the CEO of Walsh College at Chair Mourning.