SPRING BAY, Ill. — Get ready to glamp.
Developer Kim Blickenstaff and sportsman Dwayne Atherton have announced the creation of the Spring Bay Sankoty Lakes Resort and Retreat.
The 200-acre facility was given the address of 1583 Spring Bay Road, which is along the Illinois River on SR 26.
Slated for a spring 2020 opening, the multimillion dollar resort is set to be open during all four seasons, featuring glamorous camping (“glamping”) options, kayaking, canoeing, scuba diving, and more.
An RV park is part of the blueprints, along with a mile-long, manmade trout stream, beach, and kid-friendly entertainment stage.
Blickenstaff explained how the glamping will work.
“We’re going to put permanent tents in with wooden platforms that hold two beds and they have a little heater in them, and there will be 20, each one with its own little private area in the forest,” he said.
“People will be able to come and get their breakfast, lunch, and dinner at the lodge.”
The glamping locales were being constructed with heating and cooling, queen- and king-sized beds, and bathroom facilities.
Spring Bay Village President David Tilley called the project a milestone.
“It is the single largest investment in Spring Bay history, which goes back a long, long time,” he said.
“I think it will bring in tourism. I think it taps one of our greatest untapped resources, which is nature.
“Hiking trails, the fishing, the hunting. It’s our greatest untapped resource.”
At the time construction began, the property already had three aquifer-fed lakes, between 60 and 75 feet deep.
