Damage from fallen tree in Wauconda won't delay Cook House event

An open house scheduled for Sunday at the newly renovated Andrew C. Cook House in Wauconda will be held as planned, even after a storm caused an oak tree to fall on the back porch of the historic building, officials said Monday.

The tree fell during a storm Saturday afternoon and caused enough damage to the porch of the house at 711 N. Main St. that it would have to be rebuilt. Officials have not decided whether to do that work.

“It took a little piece of history,” Wauconda Township Historical Society President Pat Oaks said.

Although the rest of the house and the historical society facilities were not damaged by the tree or the storm, Oaks said, a piece of Wauconda history was lost.

“That oak tree had a lot of history to it,” she said, “I felt really bad for the tree.”

The tree was approximately 200 years old and 75 feet to 80 feet tall, according to Gerry Hamm, owner of GH Woodworking and Sawmill. He said the spread of the branches was nearly 80 feet.

“It was good candidate to come down in a storm like this, and it did,” Hamm said.

When he looked into the tree after it had fallen, he said, the base had a lot of rot in it.

The township is in the process of choosing a company to remove the tree, Wauconda Township Supervisor Glenn Swanson said.

“We would surely like the tree removed and cleaned up for our open house,” Swanson said.