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<br /> K I L P a g e 13 <br />ARCHITECTURE <br />P L A N N I N G <br />www.kilarchitecture.com <br /> <br />1 1 2 6 L I N C O L N W A Y E A S T S O U T H B E N D I N 4 6 6 0 1 ( 5 7 4 ) 2 8 8 . 2 6 5 4 V O I C E 2 8 9 . 2 4 2 0 F A X <br />4. Masonry <br />The building’s masonry can be divided into two categories. The primary façade facing west is <br />made of a light yellow colored brick with white terracotta details and ornamentation, along with red brick <br />and plaster accents. These materials compose the entire west façade and the first 35’ +/- of the south <br />façade returning down the side alleyway. The north elevation does no t have this finished masonry as <br />there is an adjacent building. The rest of the building is made of a yellow/orange common brick with no <br />ornamentation, or articulation. There are several metal fire escapes attached to the masonry of the <br />building as well. <br />The west façade brick and terracotta is in very good condition. There is limited damage and <br />pointing necessary currently. The surface is dirty, and there is a small amount of graffiti. The most notable <br />damage is at the first-floor cornice where the crown molding is a series of recessed panels with consistent <br />round holes which have been filled, these were likely exposed bulb light fixture, which have since been <br />removed and infilled. The terracotta units with these holes are consistently fractured and cracked, but not <br />spalling at this time. Within the open loggia of the third level, there is a red brick and yellow brick lattice <br />detail, in good condition, which is surmounted by plaster bas reliefs, which have been protected from the <br />elements are also in good condition overall. The base of the west façade is a black terracotta panel, <br />generally in serviceable condition, there are several cracked panels, and at the southwest corner there is <br />a missing terracotta panel, which has exposed structural steel to the elements and sidewalk salt – the <br />steel does not look delaminated yet but is rusted. For mothballing, we recommend not changing or altering <br />these facades. Upon development, these materials would benefit from cleaning and routine maintenance <br />level repairs, and a more in-depth repair or restoration of the first-floor cornice. At the base, we <br />recommend all open cavities exposing the structural steel to the elements be covered and protected from <br />further exposure. <br />For the rest of the building the masonry is generally unadorned and is in good condition from the <br />exterior, where it is exposed on the interior it does not appear to be failing dramatically at this time, <br />through it has been thoroughgoingly saturated in some areas, which may lead to extensive spalling if not <br />addressed immediately. Around the building the localized areas where exterior spalling and mortar loss <br />is apparent occurs consistently where downspouts are located in small recesses in the masonry wall. At <br />present this damage appears to be concentrated on the surface, there is not extensive evidence of <br />fissures or large cracks in these walls allowing water into the internal masonry structure, causing further <br />internal damage to the bricks. This observation carries true at the exposed areas of the interior as well, <br />however, due to the amount of water, regularly entering the building, the condition of the masonry will <br />begin to degrade rapidly, particularly through prolonged freeze thaw cycles. There is also e fflorescence <br />associated with the areas of damage. The base of these walls is the cast in place concrete basement <br />walls and foundation, which is generally in good condition. For mothballing we recommend anticipating <br />some masonry rebuilding and re-pointing at the roof level, where the roof is compromised, and storm <br />water is pouring into the building and running down the walls. Most of the masonry needed can be done <br />as part of a later phase, since there are not any major cracks areas where the masonry is disin tegrated <br />into large swaths. The key is to get the walls dry from above. A large -scale re-pointing and replacement <br />of damaged masonry units should be planned for within the next five years as either an intermediate <br />phase between stabilization and development, or as a part of a larger redevelopment of the building. <br />The fire escapes around the building all appear to be in serviceable condition and should be <br />retained where possible as they may be needed for future development egress. These do not pose a <br />hazard presently.