Re: West Roxbury, MA New Post Office Leaks: Maura Hennigan weighs in on mold

[Guest guest]

I would ask about the AC it's very important for someone to check into what's

really in the Air-condition System in New Buildings and some old that had to be

repaired in the past 10 years!?.

Elvira

[] West Roxbury, MA New Post Office Leaks: Maura

Hennigan weighs in on mold

West Roxbury & Roslindale Transcript

Townonline.com

Return to sender

By L. / Staff Writer

Thursday, October 27, 2005

Should West Roxbury's new post office be returned to sender?

After the discovery of constant and numerous leaks inside the

state-of-the-art, $5 million facility three weeks after its grand opening,

some people are

asking: Was the Centre Street building, constructed within a 90-day time

span, put up too quickly?

" It's a rip-off, " said Heafey, a letter carrier. " They had people on

the roof trying to find the leaks. They can't seem to find the leaks. We're

concerned about the winter, about the snow. "

But those working to fix the problem played it down.

" It's not a flood, it's just a leak, " said a construction worker who was

fixing damage in the building's basement during Tuesday's heavy storm. Other

workers worked feverishly vacuuming water that had soaked rugs, while others

removed sections of the exterior and interior walls to try to find the

problem.

" Why are you writing about a roof leak? " asked Schlager of The

Bulfinch Companies, which owns and built the post office. " We're repairing it

now.

It's kind of a non-issue. "

Right after the grand opening of the building earlier this month, water from

a week-long series of rainstorms started leaking into one side of the

building. The manager's office, a conference room and an area in the customer

waiting area all collected water.

The problems were exacerbated this week with a nor'easter that caused street

flooding around the area.

" It's nothing that will impact our service, " said manager M. Harold,

as he sat in his office with a drenched rug that had recently been replaced.

" Operationally, the work room floor is perfectly dry. There's no slipping

hazard. "

Harold and post office spokesman Bob Cannon attributed the leak to the

baseboard of the building.

" It's more of a nuisance to me, " said Harold.

The post office was built by The Bulfinch Cos., which has also built other

post offices in Cambridge and Jamaica Plain. The postal service leases its

space from Bulfinch, which recently offered to offered to let it buy the

building after one year.

The leaking post office, which has been the topic of contentious debate

among political candidates, caught the eye of mayoral candidate and At-Large

City

Councilor Maura Hennigan, who said the project was rushed form the start.

" Why does this surprise anybody? " she said. " What Bulfinch does is they

throw these things up. This is what happens when people are rushing to meet a

deadline. "

Hennigan also said other problems must be addressed also.

" It is very upsetting to me that now you see the proof, " she said. " You

might have to deal with mold and air quality which can be dangerous to the

employees. I am sad for the public. "

But Fitzgerald of the mayor's office said the damage won't have a big

impact.

" There's been no disruption to the service or operational needs of the post

office, " he said. " It's a non-issue really. "

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