COUDERAY, Wis. - Al Capone's Hideout, which has attracted summertime visitors for decades, has not reopened for the new tourist season.
The Hideout had been open during the summer for more than 40 years. Capone, a notorious Chicago gangster, had the nine-building compound built on Cranberry lake in the mid-1920s at a cost of $250,000.
Owner Guy Houston turned down an interview request and refused to give a reason why he closed the Hideout. But, a recent legal notice reveals a lawsuit against Houston from Assured Publishing LTD, a marketing and publishing company out of Tomahawk.
The Hideout's phone has been disconnected and its Web site is offline.
"To me, I guess it's hard for me to tell people why it's closed when I'm not really sure," said Amy McDonald, an information specialist for the Hayward Chamber of Commerce. She said she's had four to five phone calls a day this summer from people itching to tour the old Hideout.
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"A lot of people came up looking for it. The community is probably a little bit bummed out but other than that it's a pretty big thing in Hayward, well known."
McDonald said the Hideout was one of the Hayward area's top tourist attractions, but, with the American Birkebeiner and the Lumberjack World Championships, she doesn't expect Hayward to lose any tourists. "A lot of people are bummed out because they can't come but they still like to visit our Hayward area," she said.
