Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc.

10 South LaSalle Street, Suite 2600

Chicago, Illinois 60603
312.372.0555 tel | 312.372.0873 fax
www.wje.com

Headquarters & LaboratoriesNorthbrook, Illinois
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Via E-mail: [email protected]


June 18, 2013


Ms. Lisa DiChiera
Landmarks Illinois
53 West Jackson Boulevard, Suite 1315
Chicago, Illinois 60604-3699

Re: Mineola Hotel, Fox Lake, Illinois
WJE No. 2013.3098

Dear Ms. DiChiera:

At the request of Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois (Landmarks), Wiss, Janney, Elstner
Associates, Inc. (WJE) performed a condition assessment of the overall structural integrity of the Mineola
Hotel located at 90 Cora Avenue in Fox Lake, Illinois. Landmarks requested WJE evaluate the current
condition of the building and provide an opinion regarding the overall structural condition and stability of
the Hotel.

Background
Our evaluation was performed on June 16, 2013, and included visual observations from grade and
accessible interior areas. A few areas of the building were not accessible due to a previous floor
breakthrough.

At the time of construction, the Mineola Hotel was the largest wood-frame building in the state of Illinois.
The hotel was built in 1884 by members of the Chicago Board of Trade as a private clubhouse. In 1891, it
was converted to a public hotel to accommodate the growing number of tourists to the Chain OLakes
area. The current owners family took title to the building in 1943, ceasing hotel operations in the 1960s
but maintaining a first-floor restaurant and basement-level bar until the 2000s. The building is listed on
the National Register of Historic Places. The Village of Fox Lake condemned the building in 2012 and
has been engaged in court proceedings with the owner regarding its deteriorated condition.

The building sits on a site that slopes from west to east, resulting in four full stories on the east facade
fronting Fox Lake and three stories on the west facade facing the parking lot. The four-story (basement
plus three floors above grade) wood-frame hip-roof structure is essentially rectangular in plan with a
slight kink roughly in the middle. The building footprint measures approximately 66 feet in the east-west
direction and 280 feet in the north-south direction. A gable-roofed tower, roughly 15 feet by 15 feet in
plan, is incorporated into the east facade. Historically, a 16 foot wide two-story covered porch extended
along the full length of the east, north, and south facades at the first and second floors. Historic
photographs indicate that the original roof configuration incorporated larger dormers and balconies
flanking the main tower at the fourth floor (Figure 1). It is not clear when the roof was reconfigured to
incorporate eight smaller dormers along the east facade and single dormers on the north, east, and south
facades (Figure 2). At some point, the third-floor (second story) portion of the porch was removed,
including the roof extension that incorporated the dormers and balconies for the fourth-floor rooms.
Ms. Lisa DiChiera
Landmarks Illinois
June 18, 2013
Page 2
Guest rooms at the second through fourth floors are accessed from double-loaded corridor that extends
the length of the building. A one-story wood-frame addition with a port cochere abuts the east facade. The
construction date of the addition is not known. An aerial view of the hotel with the various components is
shown in Figure 3. Overall aerial views of the building are shown in Figures 4 through 6. Various views
of the exterior in its current state are shown in Figures 7 through 9.


Figure 1. Historic photograph of east facade of Mineola Hotel likely circa 1900. (Photo
courtesy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fox_Lake_IL_-_Mineola_Hotel.jpg)


Figure 2. Historic photograph of Mineola hotel from northeast likely circa 1920s. (Photo
courtesy http://www.google.com/search?q=mineola+hotel+fox+lake+il&hl)
Ms. Lisa DiChiera
Landmarks Illinois
June 18, 2013
Page 3

Figure 3. Aerial view of Mineola hotel (Photo courtesy Google)
Porch
Hotel
Addition
Tower
Basement
N
Ms. Lisa DiChiera
Landmarks Illinois
June 18, 2013
Page 4

Figure 4. Aerial view of the Mineola Hotel from the east (Photo courtesy bing.com)


Figure 5. Aerial view of the hotel from the north (Photo courtesy
http://newssun.suntimes.com/photos/galleries/?story=5492312)

Ms. Lisa DiChiera
Landmarks Illinois
June 18, 2013
Page 5

Figure 6. Aerial view of the west facade of the hotel (Photo courtesy bing.com)


Figure 7. Overall view of the hotel in its current state viewed from the
northeast


Ms. Lisa DiChiera
Landmarks Illinois
June 18, 2013
Page 6

Figure 8. Current view of the east facade of the hotel


Figure 9. View of the west facade of the hotel and addition including port
cochere

The structural system of the Mineola hotel consists of balloon-framed exterior walls (Figure 10) set on a
rubble stone foundation. Wood clapboards are attached directly to the regularly spaced 2x exterior wall
Ms. Lisa DiChiera
Landmarks Illinois
June 18, 2013
Page 7
framing. Interior finishes consist of plaster applied to wood lath anchored to the 2x wall and floor
framing. The floor structure consists of regularly spaced 2x wood joists spanning east-west with wood
beams supported at the basement and first floor with regularly spaced wood columns. The basement
extends roughly 16 feet past the east, south, and north walls of the building below the wood-frame porch.
First-floor framing extends over the basement area and is supported by wood beams that align with the
walls above and are supported by regularly spaced columns. At the second through fourth floors, guest
room floor framing spans over the corridor walls that function as bearing walls. Regularly spaced 2x
rafters and joists create the gable roof and dormers.
Major repair work was reportedly performed on the exterior of the building in the late 1970s, including
replacement of the asphalt shingle roof. As part of the roof replacement, areas of deteriorated sheathing
were replaced, and an additional layer of plywood was installed over the original 1x wood sheathing. The
porch decking was also removed and replaced with a layer of plywood over the original wood framing
and tongue and groove flooring over the plywood. In addition, the porch columns at the first floor were
replaced with new wood columns.

The beam below the east exterior wall at the first floor was also replaced in the late 1970s. Reportedly the
beam was deteriorated due to prolonged water infiltration at the interface between the porch and the
exterior wall (Figure 11).
















Figure 10. Schematic depiction of
balloon framing similar to that used
at the Mineola (Photo courtesy
http://homecents.com/gloss/framing
/Index.html)

Ms. Lisa DiChiera
Landmarks Illinois
June 18, 2013
Page 8

















Figure 11. View of underside of
replacement beam extending along the
east facade at the first floor. View from
basement.


Interior Observations
1. Cracked and debonded plaster as well as peeling paint exists throughout the interior of the building
(Figures 12 and 13).
2. Evidence of water infiltration on the ends of the floor joists at the third and fourth floors exists at
locations below the edges of the dormers on the east facade (Figures 14 through 16). At some
locations significant deterioration of the joists was evident (Figure 18).
3. Indications of localized floor deflections exist at various locations below dormers (Figure 12 above).
4. A partial breakthrough of the floor decking has occurred at one location of the fourth floor (Figures
17 and 18).
Ms. Lisa DiChiera
Landmarks Illinois
June 18, 2013
Page 9

Figure 12. Cracked and debonded plaster as well as peeling paint on
interior wall perpendicular to the exterior wall. Arrow indicates wood lath.
Dashed line indicates deflection of the wall/door frame.


Figure 13. Cracked and debonded plaster as well as peeling paint on an
exterior wall

Ms. Lisa DiChiera
Landmarks Illinois
June 18, 2013
Page 10

Figure 14. Indications of previous water infiltration at exterior wall at third
floor


Figure 15. Indications of previous water infiltration at exterior wall at
fourth floor ceiling/roof interface. Note plywood roof sheathing installed
over original 1x planks

Ms. Lisa DiChiera
Landmarks Illinois
June 18, 2013
Page 11

Figure 16. Indications of previous water infiltration at exterior wall at
fourth floor ceiling/roof interface. Note plywood roof sheathing installed
over roof rafters


Figure 17. Localized breakthrough of fourth floor decking adjacent to
exterior wall
Ms. Lisa DiChiera
Landmarks Illinois
June 18, 2013
Page 12

Figure 18. Advanced decay at the ends of the of fourth floor joists at
exterior wall at localized breakthrough

Exterior Observations
1. Numerous areas of deteriorated wood clapboards throughout the exterior facade (Figures 19 and 20).
The most significant deterioration tended to be coincident to the bottom edges of the dormers.
2. Areas of deteriorated wood trim at various areas throughout the exterior facade (Figure 21).
3. Deterioration at the bases of the replacement columns installed in the late 1970s (Figure 22).

Ms. Lisa DiChiera
Landmarks Illinois
June 18, 2013
Page 13












Figure 19. Representative area of deteriorated
clapboards and wood trim on north facade of hotel


Figure 20. Representative area of deteriorated clapboards and wood trim on
east facade of hotel

Ms. Lisa DiChiera
Landmarks Illinois
June 18, 2013
Page 14

Figure 21. North facade of hotel. Note deteriorated clapboards and missing
and deteriorated wood trim.


Figure 22. Deterioration at base of wood columns that were installed in the
1970s


Ms. Lisa DiChiera
Landmarks Illinois
June 18, 2013
Page 15
Discussion
Generally, the current condition of the Mineola Hotel is consistent with a building that has been
minimally maintained over the past twenty to thirty years. Deterioration of the roof in the vicinity of some
of the dormers has resulted in ongoing water infiltration and subsequent deterioration of the floor joists at
the third and fourth floors. The deterioration of the floor framing appears to be generally limited to the
ends of the floor joists below the edges of the dormers. Deterioration of the clapboards is also most
pronounced adjacent to the ends of the dormers and is also due to the poorly maintained dormers, which
have resulted in improper water shedding and continued water infiltration.
Cracking of the interior plaster is consistent with plaster installed on wood lath and wood framing.
Seasonable temperature variations in combination with changing moisture content of the wood framing
result in cracking of the relatively stiff and brittle plaster. Similarly, the plaster keys that engage the wood
lath will eventually break, resulting in portions of the plaster becoming debonded. Peeling paint on
interior finishes is also common when buildings remain unconditioned for prolonged periods of time.
Conclusions
While there are localized areas of deterioration and damage within the Mineola Hotel that require repair
prior to implementing a repair or restoration project for the Hotel, the structural systems of the building
are generally intact and serviceable. Areas of significant deterioration of the third and fourth floors and
roof framing are limited to the ends of the members and are the result of water infiltration through the
roof, particularly at the edges of the dormers. The majority of the observed damage and deterioration is
limited to exterior and interior finishes including clapboards, trim and interior plaster. This deterioration
is the result of lack of adequate water management from the roof run-off. Specifically, no roof overhangs
exist, and no gutter or downspouts were installed during previous modifications to the roof.
Deterioration of the more recently installed wood members including the porch columns and various other
supplemental wood framing installed is also the result of water infiltration. In the case of the porch
columns, it is likely that the ends of the columns were not painted, and, as a result, the end grain of the
wood was susceptible to deterioration.
Recommendations
Based on our observations, we recommend the following prioritized repairs:
Priority 1:
1. Install temporary shoring along the exterior wall of the east facade to temporarily support the floor
framing at the third and fourth floors. This shoring should remain in place until the floor framing has
been repaired.
2. It is likely that some deterioration of the ends of the floor joists and roof rafters has occurred as a
result of the condition of the roof, particularly at the edges of the dormers. Therefore, an evaluation
the ends of the floor and roof framing should be performed during the repair work. Deteriorated joists
should be repaired, reinforced, or replaced.
Ms. Lisa DiChiera
Landmarks Illinois
June 18, 2013
Page 16
3. Replace deteriorated columns that support the roof of the porch. Shoring should be installed to
support the porch roof structure during the repair process. Alternatively, the entire porch roof
structure could be removed and reconstructed.
4. Replace the existing roofing, and incorporate gutters and downspouts. Downspouts should be
connected to the storm sewers if permissible or discharged away from the building. Deteriorated
sheathing should be replaced and rubberized membrane should be installed along all valleys and
adjacent to all gutters. Alternatively, the roof could be reconstructed as it was historically to create the
appropriate overhangs that would incorporate the gutters and downspouts.
Priority 2:
1. Replace isolated areas of deteriorated wood clapboards and trim on the exterior of the building. All
new clapboards and trim should be back-primed with particular attention to end grain.
2. Evaluate remaining porch framing. Repair or replace deteriorated members.
3. Depending on the planned future use of the building, perform a structural analysis to determine the
capacity of the existing structural systems. Supplemental structural support may be necessary to
support current code defined loads.
Priority 3:
1. Remove and replace all deteriorated interior plaster. All existing wood trim should be removed and
salvaged for reinstallation following repair of the interior finishes.
2. Scrape and paint all remaining exterior wood clapboards and trim.
3. Consider installing insulation and a vapor barrier in the exterior walls at the time the interior plaster is
repaired or replaced.

If you have any questions or wish to discuss our findings, please do not hesitate to contact WJE.

Sincerely,

WISS, JANNEY, ELSTNER ASSOCIATES, INC.

Edward Gerns
Principal