Officials suspect arson in a fire that destroyed a golf course clubhouse in Cottage Grove.
The fire at the former Mississippi Dunes Golf Course was reported at 6:45 a.m. Sunday, according to Police Chief Pete Koerner.
The golf course has been closed since 2017 and the clubhouse was unoccupied at the time of the fire. Koerner said the blaze was being investigated as an arson by the State Fire Marshal.
Authorities still don’t know how the fire was started or what part of the building burned first.
The 18-hole golf course is one of the last developable locations on the Mississippi River. It has drawn attention from developers, who have proposed luxury homes, medium-density housing and parks for the 180-acre site.
“Though the Mississippi Dunes Golf Course will become something different in the future … it is always sad to see a building that was a fun and happy place for so many people, burn to the ground,” Mayor Myron Bailey wrote on his Facebook page.