Mold Has Infested $19 Million UCF Building Project

June 30, 2005

POSTED: 5:03 pm EDT June 29, 2005

UPDATED: 6:04 pm EDT June 29, 2005

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- The University of Central Florida is spending

nearly $19 million on a new engineering building. But now, someone

has to engineer a solution to a real problem. Mold has infested the

project.

It was supposed to be the crown jewel of the engineering department,

an $18.9 million, 75,000 square foot palace. But instead, it's a

wet, moldy mess.

One worker, who didn't want to be identified, said it's not a

healthy environment. " There's quite a few employees sick, runny

nose, one guy out two weeks with sinuses, one guy has eyes swollen

shut. "

Evergreen Construction is the contractor for the new engineering

building. As Channel 9 was being escorted off property, an employee

admitted they jumped the gun.

" Sometimes with the schedule they give you nowadays, you gotta take

chances and we took a chance and lost, " the employee said.

Normally, drywall is not put into a project until it has been dried

in or the roof has been put up. But because they are so far behind

schedule, they put the drywall up and now it has to come back down.

" The university is not paying for that, it's not our problem, it's

their problem, " said UCF planner Newman.

In all, 90 percent of the dry wall is being ripped out, further

delaying a building that was supposed to open in 15 days. Even with

the visible mold removed, will this building ever be mold-free?

" It's everywhere. They need to start over, " Newman said.

UCF, which will receive a $2,700-a-day discount for any delays, said

it will insure everything is checked out.

UCF says the building was going to be used for fall classes, but the

construction delay will have a ripple effect on the engineering

department.

Evergreen Construction of Atlanta did not return calls from Channel

9 for comment.

Recommended Posts