City to clean up building mold Fort Myers

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City to clean up building mold

Camp programs to stay in public center

By ALISON KEPNER

AKEPNER@...

Published by news-press.com on June 18, 2005

http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?

AID=/20050618/NEWS01/506180482/1075

Boys and Girls Club campers were first told Friday that their

program in a city building would be suspended indefinitely because

of mold. But now they can return Monday after all.

Fort Myers leaders said the mold will be removed in a cleaning today

and Sunday.

City and club officials said the 170 students, ages 6 to 14, who

attend a summer program at Shady Oaks Community Center were at no

serious health risk. But some parents still worry their kids may

have been exposed for months to the mold growing throughout the

n Avenue building.

" I was scared a little bit, " Mc said. " I'm happy that

they found it and are taking care of it. " Her son, Javian, 5, is in

the program.

Workers will seal off the center from leaks next weekend. In July,

the club temporarily will relocate — likely to nearby Lee Middle

School — while crews complete other needed work, including roof,

floor and wall repairs.

City officials did not have an estimate Friday for the cost of the

mold removal or other work.

The recommended building shut-down came after a contractor hired to

test the center's air quality saw the mold Thursday and suggested

immediate closure.

Bill Gunnin, executive director of the Boys and Girls Club, said he

did not know about the problem before the inspection.

" We didn't know that mold was an issue. We just knew water (leakage)

was an issue, " he said.

A tarp had covered the center's peaked roof since Hurricane Charley

damaged it in August. Workers repaired the roof two weeks ago, when

they also discovered leaks to the flat roof, which will be fixed in

July.

News that the group would have to vacate the center by Monday sent

club and city leaders scrambling Friday to find another location.

They notified parents there would be no camp Monday.

" I don't know what I would have done, " mother Lasonya Young said.

Reasha Roberson was worried about where she'd take

her 7-year-old son, Corey .

" A lot of moms have got to work during the day, and this is the best

thing for him, " she said.

The club has a long and successful history in the city with

programming aimed at keeping kids off the streets and in school,

sports, games and other positive fun.

The club pays the city $60 a day for the use of the building.

Young's son, 9-year-old Levon , said he likes playing

basketball or pool in the game room best. He never noticed any mold

but is glad the center will be fixed up.

" When it rains, the water starts coming down, " he said.

For Councilman Warren , the mold problem is an example of why

the city needs to re-examine how it spends its money.

That, the councilman said, means investing more in facilities such

as Shady Oaks and less in those he considers non-essential, such as

the Imaginarium and Skatium.

" It's the city failing to pay attention to core services, " he

said. " We need to go back to the basics. "