Ready to See What the Mithoff Looks Like?

 

Condemned is a Nice Word for This

 

We walked through the Mithoff yesterday.  It was still pitch black, but Brad carried a small generator and light with him through the entire building.  It gave off just enough light for us to see where we were going.  Deward Watts was with us.  He was taking pictures in the hopes of convincing the state to give us some renovation tax credits as we approach this monumental task.

The retail spaces resembled nothing of the old hotel, except for maybe a glimpse or two of exposed brick.

Two buildings make up the Mithoff hotel.  This is where they were joined.

                                                                                      

In the basement you can see the huge sandstone blocks that make up the foundation.  

All the retail spaces were in horrible shape.  When the floor caved in where the fabric and drapery store once stood, the building was condemned.  The merchants were asked to vacate the premises.  They left anything that was of little value. 

 

This is one of the old boiler rooms. 

 

All the old wiring is still in place.

 

Sections of the basement are filled with trash and debris.  If there is anything worth salvaging and keeping we will find it, clean it up and repurpose it for the renovated building.   But boy do we need to dig through a whole bunch of trash.

This is basically the site of the floor collapse.  Termite damage was the cause, along with a few structural issues Brad can explain much better.  We could not walk into this room.  It was far too dangerous.



 

Part of the backroom in the retail space of the old fabric store.  There are still old mail slots in the wall.  We will be keeping these!

From the fabric store you can access the old hotel.  It is the only entrance into the area.  We were also able to access the basement area from there.  This was probably some of the worst damage I had seen.  In these photos there is at least 3 inches or water on the floor, crusted over with ice.

Finally we get to the good part!  Taking the steps up to the remnants of the old hotel.  There was a lot of the old staircase left.  There are missing banister posts and the newel posts are gone, but we can recreate the missing ones and repair the existing ones. 

There is evidence of  a lot of fire damage.  As you walk through the old hotel there is room after room and you finally realize just had big the place really is.  You really can't get a feel for that out on the street.  The plaster is falling away and the brick is exposed, but there is still a faint shadow of what the building must have looked like in its glory days.   If you look hard enough, you can still see it.

I LOVE the old light above the doorway.  This was at one time an exit light.  This door leads to the outside.

We got lucky and this newel post remains.  We can pattern the others after it. 

As we move through the building thinking of its new use,  I can literally see the new offices, the newly furnished suites, conference rooms and reception areas.  I smell new wood and carpet, not animal waste, mildew and fire damage. 

What an incredible office this room will make!

The next few pictures show what we are almost certain was the second floor lobby of the hotel.  If you look super close you can tell that the wallpaper matches. 

 
 

 

The third floor has a lot of water and fire damage.

 

A corner sink.  You don't see these any more!

 



This room is a mirror image of the large suite on the second floor.  A lot more damage though.  Check out the wallpaper above the fireplace.  Look familiar?

The corridor seems to go on forever...room after room.

 

Yes....that IS sunlight shining through the brick.

 

A lot of graffiti and water damage.  We opened up a window to get a look at the walkway between the two buildings and the courtyard below.