Going-out-of-business sale at Olympia Resort in Oconomowoc begins Thursday

OCONOMOWOC – The last remnants of Oconomowoc’s Olympia Resort & Conference Center will be re-homed in the weeks to come.

International Content Liquidations Inc. (ICL) has announced a sale will be held at Olympia, 1350 Royale Mile Road, Oconomowoc, starting Thursday, Feb. 14 and running for up to 30 days or until sold out. The public sale will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and noon to 5 p.m. Sundays during that time span.

Items that will be sold include all contents of the 350 guest rooms, the commercial kitchen, banquet, spa, offices, bar, restaurants and common areas, including, but not limited to, chandeliers, china, glassware, drapes, beds, tables, candlesticks and carpeting.

The sale is a tag sale and not an auction; therefore, all items will be priced individually and sold on a first-come, first-serve basis.

The sale comes as the final chapter for Olympia, which was built in 1973. In August 2017, owner Rick Eckert listed the 190-room hotel for sale at $5.9 million. At the time, it was Oconomowoc’s largest hotel and resort.

Five months later, Olympia staff members learned at a company Christmas party that the resort would close; tenants were told they had to move out by Jan. 19.

In December 2018, Stewart Wangard, president and CEO of Wangard Partners, purchased the property for $3 million. The property was purchased in two pieces with Equity Trust, a related entity, acquiring part of the property for $400,000.

Wangard plans to convert the hotel into 110 apartment units pending approval from the city of Oconomowoc. A public hearing is scheduled for that request at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 13, at city hall, 174 E. Wisconsin Ave., Oconomowoc.

Thirst, a new Oconomowoc church, has recently taken up residence in the former Olympia Conference Center after signing a one-year agreement. The church was previously housed at the Oconomowoc Community Center.