The city hall in Beech Grove, Indiana was discovered to have an expensive mold problem. The 80 year old building recently experienced a leaky roof and gutters. This, combined, with a faulty HVAC system has contributed to mold growth on walls and ceiling tiles.
In 2008, the Marion County Health Department cited the city and recently gave it 45 days to come up with a way to address the problem. Treasurer Sarah Kincaid said remediation would cost over a million dollars and added that “the means to pay for a permanent solution remain a mystery.” Since then, the city hall has been mostly evacuated. Some employees now work in the City Hall Annex adjacent to the building.
If you follow mold news like me then you’ve probably wondered why city halls and courthouses always seem to have mold issues. I’m not sure of the reason, but I have a few theories. It’s not just because they are old, since I can point to many examples of moldy buildings that are only a few years old.
It could be that these buildings are subject to more government bureaucracy which prevents necessary repairs from being made to eliminate moisture problems. Another possibility is that these government buildings are not any more moldy than homes and office buildings. They simply take their mold problems more seriously since the government has deep pockets and is more susceptible to hefty lawsuits.
Whatever the case may be, it shouldn’t cost a million dollars to repair water leaks and remove mold in a building of this size. I’m not sure where that estimate came from, but most recently the city has only spent $10,000 to $12,000 on mold removal and officials say they hope to have the building’s roof repaired in the next two to three weeks.
Often people overestimate the cost of mold removal because they are unaware of how recent technological breakthroughs have made the process much simpler and cost effective.
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