The area was closed to the public after the clubhouse building at Credit Island caught fire Thursday morning, May 2, 2013.
The fire was reported at about 8 a.m. by someone who saw flames from Sunset Park in Rock Island.
Smoke from the fire was visible for more than a mile in all directions.
Initial reports indicated some firefighters had difficulty reaching the building because of a flood-prevention dike built around it to help prevent flood damage. A spokesperson for the City of Davenport confirmed flood walls around the parking lot kept firefighters back from the building.
Firefighters moved outside the building to a defensive mode, working primarily to prevent the fire from spreading to neighboring property and vegetation. A nearby garage building did not appear to have been damaged in the fire.
Davenport firefighters at the scene requested tankers from Blue Grass and Buffalo fire departments to assist in the firefight. Crews blocked River Drive traffic as they attempted to run hoses across River Drive to the nearest hydrant, but that plan was quickly abandoned in favor of pumping water from the river.
Pumping water from the river was not considered ideal because of a large amount of debris in the river from recent flooding.
The building was most recently available for meetings and private events, and housed some office and equipment space for the Davenport Parks Department. The city spokesperson said no one had been inside the building in more than two weeks, since before recent flooding happened in the Quad Cities.
The Davenport spokesperson said they believe initial construction began on the lodge building in 1922.
