March 31, 2021 – Town of Trenton, WI – It was a sunny but windy day on Tuesday as golfers hit the links at West Bend Lakes Golf Club. The locally-owned course is open for business and moving forward following a devastating fire March 14 that leveled the clubhouse.
While the situation may be a one-two punch for the Merkel family, owners Jim and his son Chris are emotional and thankful for the outpouring of support from the community.
“It took us a couple days to get the golf course open,” said Jim Merkel. “We have electricity and are taking credit cards and our leagues get underway in mid-April.”
The Merkel’s credit the effort to get back up and running to neighboring businesses. “Tommy Schwai is working with us to get a food trailer and Jeff’s Spirits helped significantly… along with many others,” said Jim.
Taking down the building has hit a snag as the DNR is coming in to review the situation.
As far as the cause of the fire, the determination is it was an electrical fire that started between the walls. “Some of our stuff in the kitchen wasn’t even hooked up yet,” said Jim. “This is a 100-year-old building; it was in the walls.”
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