March 19, 2009 - After years of inactivity, the three main buildings at the former Shangri-La Resort on Grand Lake near Grove will soon be torn down and their contents auctioned.

Yet plans to erect the $500 million Peninsula Resort and Club, which would include a hotel, conference center, marina, wellness center and residential development, are still on hold, said Matt Benn, director of golf and membership at Shangri-La Golf Course and a representative of developer Peter Boylan.

"We were 45 days away from getting development off the ground, then the economy hit," Benn said. "So we're in a holding pattern until things turn around."

Shangri-La, a once-popular getaway drawing 100,000 people a year at its height in the early 1980s, closed its doors about a decade ago. Boylan purchased the 415 acres of land, two 18-hole golf courses and the hotel, conference and recreation buildings in 2005 for $5 million.

The golf courses continue to operate.

Before the buildings come down, J.B. Robison Auctioneers-Realtors will auction off the thousands of items from the buildings, including exercise equipment, tableware, pianos, commercial laundry equipment, hotel room contents and urinals.

Auctioneer J.B. Robison said he is not sure the exact amount of what he's selling, just that it's massive.

"Imagine if you took the contents of about four big restaurants, a hotel, an exercise center and an office furniture supply store -- that would just about get us started," he said.

The iconic bronze eagle from atop the lodge won't be part of the auction; Boylan plans to save it for his future resort.

The auctions are scheduled March 24-26 and April 1-3 at Shangri-La. Additionally, the former resort will be open for public tours from noon to 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays until the auctions are complete.

Auction information is available from Robison at 256-5524 or tulsaworld.com/robison.

Robert Evatt 581-8447 [email protected]

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