Video - Mold puts Lebanon gyms on the bench for good

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KVAL Eugene, OR

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With the population of Lebanon on the rise, the town is outgrowing

its sports facilities. There's simply not enough gym space in

Lebanon to meet the demand for games.

Recently, city officials thought they had the problem solved, until

Mother Nature threw them an expensive curveball.

At 6:00 on any given night in the gym at the Boys and Girls Club in

Lebanon, explains the club's Yutzie, " This space is absolutely

crowded with kids. "

In addition to the adults who play basketball at lunch time, more

than 2000 kids visit the club each year.

" Our total population of kids has just skyrocketed, " Yutzie

explains. " We don't have enough room in the building, or enough room

in the city to offer all the services we have for the kids right

now. "

And with the demand for gym space outpacing the supply, city

officials tried to intervene.

In 2003, the City of Lebanon traded some land to the school

district; in return, they received three gymnasiums, including this

one at the old Lebanon Middle School. Unfortunately, these days, to

even walk through these doors, you're going to need a mask.

" We have some water leaking in there, so it's all over the

building, " says Albany Public Works Director Jim Ruef. " About every

wall you look at, you'll see this kind of damage. "

Not a pretty sight: a leaky roof has left standing water on the

warped court, and walls full of nasty mold.

" We had some volunteers come in, and they took off some of the wall

panels to expose how much mold there is, " Ruef says. " And you can

see it: it doesn't take much to realize that there is a lot of mold.

This is just the tip of iceberg. "

With the cost of fixing the old gyms about the same as the cost to

build new ones, the Albany City Council has voted to tear the old

buildings down. Officials hope the community will support new gyms

to take their place.

" There's no doubt in anybody's mind, it is cheaper to maintain an

activity center like the Boys & Girls Club than it is to build and

maintain juvenile detention centers, to build jails, " Yutzie

says. " And so it really is an investment for the community, to

better the entire community. "

Tearing down those old gyms is expected to cost about $180,000. The

Boys and Girls Club is considering build a new gym on their land,

but there's no telling if or when the city might replace their old

gyms.