What mysteries lie behind Fox Lake hotel's secret wall?

For more than 60 years, Pete Jakstas has stared at a smoke-stained wall lined with video games at the Mineola Hotel and Lounge, and wondered what his parents could be hiding.

His father built the wall in 1943 when the Fox Lake tavern was redesigned into its current floor plan, Jakstas said, and he's always "wanted to tear it down to have a look-see."

"Now, I'm gonna find out," he said. "Seriously, I have no idea what is back there. It could be filled will all kinds of memorabilia from the Mineola or from Fox Lake, or it could be a home for a family of raccoons. I have no idea."

Jakstas will tear down the wall during a private party this weekend at the hotel, 91 Cora Ave. The party is by invitation only, and will include residents and local historians, he said. The public can view whatever is found starting at noon Sunday, he said.

The possibilities are interesting because of the Mineola's history.

Built in 1884, the Mineola is one of the largest wood structures in Illinois and was once a weekend vacation resort for mobsters and wealthy Chicago businessmen, Jakstas said. The hotel is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

A closet history buff and antique lover, Jakstas became sole owner of the Mineola in 1996 after spending more than a decade helping his mother and brother, Paul, make the main business decisions after 1985.

Jakstas' mother died in 1991, he said, and his brother was bought out about five years later.

Jakstas said he is sure the 20-foot wall was built adjacent to the original wood bar hotel patrons used before 1943. The space he wants to reveal is two to four feet in width between the original bar and a stone wall directly behind it.

That stone wall is part of an crawl space/access tunnel that has not been closed off, though is rarely used today, he said.

"I've been in the crawl space many times, so I know what's in there," he said. "But, I have no idea what is between the wall and the crawl space. That's what we are going to find out."

Jakstas cautions this could turn into another "Al Capone's Vault" adventure, similar to April 1986 when TV personality Geraldo Rivera hyped the opening of a vault once owned by Al Capone only to find it empty except for a few bottles.

Jakstas knows there won't be any old slot machines inside - those were located around the columns of the room, he said. He suspects the original bar is still there, along with maybe a mirror or two, and possibly some artifacts from years gone by.

"If I had to guess, I would say my father had the foresight to take things down before he put the wall up," he said.