A “black substance” has been dripping from the exterior of the Linda Sokol Francis Brookfield Library since shortly after its construction was completed in July 2021, Executive Director Kim Coughran said Wednesday. Now, after drafting a formal complaint, the library board is looking to settle out of court with the building’s architecture and construction firms to fund a major repair that may cost $1.3 million to implement.
On March 19 and March 20, the library’s board of trustees took actions to begin negotiations with those firms with a goal of avoiding a lawsuit while approving advertising for the services of an engineering firm to replace the building’s exterior envelope to eliminate the ongoing problem.
In an unfiled formal legal complaint the library board approved March 19, the library alleged the problem was created by professional negligence in the design and construction of the new library.
In the complaint, which has not been filed with Cook County courts, the library claimed Chicago-based architecture firm Product Architecture and Design (PAD) and Elgin-based construction firm IHC Construction Companies LLC breached their contracts and failed to prevent or were negligent in preventing the creation of the black substance from materials used to construct the new building. The library planned to seek $1 million each in monetary damages from the two firms.
Coughran said a tolling agreement approved by the board at a special meeting March 20 led to the complaint not being filed. She described the tolling agreement as the beginning of negotiations with the firms to settle the dispute out of court.
Subcontractor firms L.J. Morse Construction Co. and BOFO Waterproofing LLC also signed the tolling agreement alongside material supplier W.R. Meadows, Inc.
According to the complaint, the substance oozing from the library’s facade is the result of the use of W.R. Meadows’ Air-Shield liquid membrane, MaxLife Industries’ ArmorSeal sealant and its ArmorWall NP sheathing product line, which was discontinued in 2021 after MaxLife was acquired by DuPont. At high temperatures, which the library alleged PAD’s design induced in the wall system due to “[in]sufficient air space,” the materials are known to liquefy in contact with each other.
In early 2025, the library hired engineering, architecture and materials science firm Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associated, Inc. According to the complaint, the firm tested samples of the dripping substance and found it included all three materials.
Coughran said library employees noticed the black substance “more or less as soon as the building project was complete” in July 2021. She declined to comment on the record as to why the library did not initiate legal action until this year.
At the March 19 meeting, the library board also approved a request for qualifications from engineering firms to replace the library’s exterior envelope so the black substance is eliminated. The request gives interested firms until May 2 to submit information, and the board will pick one firm after doing interviews on May 19.
Coughran said the new work would be done to the building’s exterior but that library officials don’t yet know how it could affect the library’s operations. She said she expected the work to be completed in 2026.
In February 2020, nine days after the library board awarded IHC its contract, Cicero-based ALL Construction Group submitted a formal protest with the board over its decision. Through its attorney, the group said it was the lowest responsible bidder for the project. It claimed the library’s owner’s representative, Dan Eallonardo, should have recused himself from recommending the award to IHC because he worked for the firm for 16 years.
The protest also argued the library board did not comply with a local law requiring them to provide a full list of reasons why ALL Construction was passed over due to a state grant the library had received for the project.
The library board’s attorney, Roger Ritzman, told the Landmark at that time that ALL Construction’s bid did not meet the library’s standards for the project.
In March 2020, ALL Construction’s attorney addressed an appeal letter to Illinois State Library Director Greg McCormick, claiming Eallonardo provided IHC with an independent estimate of the project costs before the library sought competitive bids.
Ritzman responded that Eallonardo had reached out to IHC and another firm, which declined the request, to ask for second opinions about cost estimates provided by a consultant in June 2019.
An Illinois State Library representative said Thursday the Landmark would need to make a public records request to learn what outcome, if any, resulted from the letter. IHC ultimately handled the new Brookfield library’s construction.
