Brought to you by WBIW News and Network Indiana
Last updated on Monday, March 2, 2015
(FRENCH LICK) - The Legend of French Lick estate, a house built for former Orange County high school basketball standout and one-time NBA player Larry Bird, has been purchased by Mike and Debbie Hicks of Bedford.
The Hicks already owns the Comfort Suites hotel in Springs Valley.
The estate will become a resort featuring basketball memorabilia throughout and many of the original furnishings. The estate also includes a large solar-heated pool with an adjoining pool house and full kitchen, a lighted tennis court and a lighted basketball court. The property has been featured in movies and commercials.
The 20-acre resort may be rented in its entirety, or the suites, pool or a planned gazebo can be rented individually. Six luxury suites, each with newly remodeled bathrooms, offer such amenities as a refrigerator, free Wi-Fi, a flat-screen television and access to the shared great room and kitchen. Three of the suites feature a jetted garden tub.
The resort will be further enhanced this spring with the addition of a large classic gazebo, plus banquet tables, chairs and additional rental items needed for weddings and other social events.
A half-mile nature trail, with a 6-foot-wide, all-weather walking path also will be developed on the estate. The trail will feature a scenic viewing area that will be equipped with Bedford limestone benches overlooking the historic Buffalo Trace, which begins at the Falls of the Ohio and continues to the plains of Illinois and beyond. Descriptive and educational signs will be displayed throughout the nature trail, naming native plants and trees.
Construction on the new additions will begin in the spring of this year. In addition, future plans are to convert an existing building into 6,600-square-feet banquet hall to be named Abbeydell Convention Center. The event center will serve as a venue for wedding receptions, reunions, trade shows, festivals, business meetings and conventions. Reservations already are being accepted for all of the resort's venues.
The general manager of the resort will be Debbie Chipman, who has 32 years of experience in the hospitality industry. Event will be organized and developed by Audrey Stevens, a recent graduate of Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis, with a major in tourism, convention and event management.
Comfort Suites will provide marketing and staff support as well as provide guest rooms for larger events. With the addition of the Legend, the Hicks couple will diversity their guest opportunities for romantic getaways, golf holidays, corporate retreats, weddings and reunions.
Although the property is the former home of Bird, the new owners said neither it nor the Legend of French Lick LLC is affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Bird or the Larry Joe Bird revocable living trust.
Additional information is available by calling (812) 936-6333 or visiting www.legendoffrenchlick.com.
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