Owners of the the Medical Arts Building, 715 Lake St., will spend around $500,000 to repair decades of deterioration. After a foot-long piece of plaster fell off the building a month ago, contractors were brought in to give the building an 80-year check-up.
They discovered many potential problems, said Jack Sheehan, who co-owns the building with his brother Tim. To eliminate any safety hazards, the exterior of the terra cotta façade is being completely rehabilitated over the next two to three months.
“We’re not changing anything. We’re just spiffying it up and making it safe,” Sheehan said.
Many of the metal rods and lintels (or steel bars) that support the windows, terra cotta slabs, and corbels are damaged and need to be replaced.
But since everything is built on top of the lintels, the contractors must take apart and remove much of the exterior to get at the damage.
“They have to take everything down then build it back up again,” Sheehan said.
The LS Contracting Group from Chicago and Structure Evaluating Engineers Inc. from Naperville have taken up the task.
They’re also paying close attention to the details. Most of the same pieces will be used to rebuild
structures, but for those needing
to be replaced, not much will change.
The lintels will have the same intricate designs and the terra cotta will be touched up with a particular paint that allows it to breathe.
“It’s a huge undertaking,” Sheehan said.
While the workers are present, Sheehan said that they’re fixing anything else that is questionable.
“They don’t know what they’re gonna find [wrong],” Sheehan said, which is
why the half-million-dollar price tag is an estimate.
Work began by using mobile scaffolding up and down the building. Workers had to remove corbels
of up to 300 pounds, carrying them down the mobile, and back up again because there was no place to store them, Sheehan described.
“It was very time consuming and dangerous,” Sheehan said.
They have since removed the mobile scaffolding and erected a fixed scaffolding on top of the building where more men can work and where pieces can be stored.
With all the construction, some business is suffering. The canopy is covering up the pharmacy and eyeglass shop, so temporary signs will be put up so people know they are there, Sheehan said.
“Everything’s a little chaotic during the process but once it’s all done it’ll be well worth it,” he said.
Sheehan doesn’t anticipate there being any more construction after this project finishes.
“It’s been 80 years without any major problems. It’ll probably be good for another 80,” he said. “It’s a very good looking classic Art Deco building and it’s worth saving.”
