SPRINGFIELD – Five companies have submitted bids with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to operate the long-shuttered Eagle Creek Resort at Lake Shelbyville.

But some of the bids may not include operating the mold-plagued 138-room lodge and convention center at the resort, about 70 miles southwest of Champaign-Urbana.

The five bidders are: Kemper Sports Management of Northbrook, the Sullivan Marina and Campground LLC of Sullivan, Golfvisions Management of Northlake, H.G. Golf Properties LLC of Danville, Ind., and BMDD Resorts Corporations LLC of Decatur.

State officials declined to reveal details of the bids, citing proprietary information.

Representatives of most of the companies either declined comment on their bids or failed to return phone calls.

But their Web sites indicate that most of the companies either own and operate or help manage golf courses. Eagle Creek has an 18-hole golf course that has generally been unaffected by the other problems at the resort. Although it was closed last July, the Department of Natural Resources has maintained the course since that time.

Kemper Sports Management, for example, operates golf courses in 28 states, including five in northern Illinois. The company even has a division that deals with "management of troubled golf assets."

Golfvisions operates seven 18-hole courses and two nine-hole courses in the Chicago area plus a 27-hole golf-only facility in Leesburg, Fla.

Sullivan Marina owner Dennis Fayhee would say only that his bid was "fairly unique" and included operating the golf course, moving part of his marina operations to Eagle Creek and using the lodge property, in part, for so-called destination weddings.

State officials hope to award a contract for operation of the resort "by sometime in March," said DNR spokesman Chris McCloud.

The bids will be evaluated by a committee of DNR officials based on 10 criteria, McCloud said, such as compliance with the bid procedures, suitability of the concept for operating the property, financial capability, experience, reputation, comprehension of the market, proposed operations and maintenance procedures and the price offered for the property.

According to DNR, financial capability carries the greatest weight.

"If we find that one, two, three, four, all five of the bids that we received are outstanding and they want more information," McCloud said, "then we'll invite those bidders to give some oral presentations."

They would not be open to the public, he said.

No details on any of the bids will be revealed until the end of the process, McCloud said.

He could not say if the golf course would be opened this summer.

"It depends on what we get here," he said, referring to the bids.

Eagle Creek, which opened 23 years ago, has had a checkered financial past. Its most recent operator was Eagle Creek Resort LLC, which was owned by Barry Shiffman and Edwin Edelberg, both from the Chicago area.

Last month the Marine Bank of Springfield and Community Banks of Shelby County filed a lawsuit against Eagle Creek Resort LLC and the DNR, claiming that they are owed more than $3 million in mortgage payments, expenses and attorneys fees, and that the DNR unlawfully assumed possession of the property last summer.

Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office will defend the DNR in the lawsuit, a spokesman said Friday. A response to the suit is expected later this month.