Historic Mineola condemned by Fox Lake

FOX LAKE – A more than 100-year-old historic building in Fox Lake soon may be no more after village officials condemned the property last week.

The Mineola Hotel and Restaurant, which was built in 1884, has become so structurally unsafe that condemning the property after an annual inspection April 11 had to be done in the name of keeping the public safe, building commissioner Frank Urbina said.

Code violations were found by a village inspector throughout the interior and exterior of the building to the extent that the building is at risk of collapsing at any time. The possibility of a collapse meant that allowing the Mineola's owner, Pete Jakstas Sr., time to fix the violations before closing the restaurant was out of the question, Urbina said.

"It's not that the restaurant itself has all these code violations," he said. "It's the building, all the floors above, that have the potential of collapse."

Jakstas said the village's decision to immediately condemn the property without any prior warning about the violations has left him "completely dumbfounded."

"After 68 years of being in business in the town, you would think if there's a problem they would come up and say there is a problem," he said.

Jakstas attributed the code violations cited by the village to the Mineola's age and a severe winter. He said he had plans to pressure-spray the outside of the building and to paint the exterior, but that he has to wait for nicer weather.

He denied that the building is at risk of collapse, adding that he has insurance on the property. The insurance company requires him to keep the top floors of the structure blocked off to people because of safety concerns, Jakstas said. 

"The insurance [company] wouldn't go through and insure it if it is unsafe," Jakstas said. "I work with the insurance company very, very closely."

Under Fox Lake ordinances, Jakstas has 30 days to submit to the village a structural report from a licensed structural engineer and a schedule of when necessary repairs would take place. If Jakstas fails to provide a report within 30 days, the village would look to take legal action to have the building demolished, Urbina said.

Other businesses recently condemned and closed by Fox Lake, including the Marina Motel and the Aquarium Bar and Grill, were given the same time line to submit a report and then make required repairs. Both the motel and bar and grill have since reopened.

The Mineola is thought by some to have been a hideout for infamous Chicago gangster Al Capone. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

In a letter addressed to Jakstas and forwarded to the national register, Urbina wrote that he believes the building has lost its physical integrity and should be considered for removal from the list.

If a structure is to be removed from the national register, documentation that justified removal first would need to be presented at the state level, and then sent on to the national level if the state wishes to pursue removal, said Paul Lusignan, a historian with the national register.

A structure is typically only removed if it has lost its historic character or integrity, or has been altered from its original state, Lusignan said.

"We're not going to remove something from the national registry merely because it's run down or unsafe," he said. "There are always possibilities of trying to resurrect these buildings."

Mayor Ed Bender said village officials are willing to work to with Jakstas if he chooses to make repairs to the Mineola.

"The Mineola is known to be in Fox Lake," Bender said. "Everybody knows about it, and it really is a shame to see it go this far and even to the point where he might have to tear it down."

If the building is torn down, it will take away a source of tourism for the village, Jakstas said. He is continuing attempts to sell the building, but has so far been unable to do so.

"I don't think it's fair," Jakstas said. "Why would anyone want to come to Fox Lake when they treat an old-time business [this way]?"