Get to the bottom of faulty courthouse St Petesburg Times

[Guest guest]

says he'll keep the pressure on until he's sure the courthouse is

safe for federal workers. Someone needs to; the landlord certainly hasn't.

_http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/editorials/get-to-the-bottom-of-faulty-cour

thouse/1150197_

(http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/editorials/get-to-the-bottom-of-faulty-courthou\

se/1150197)

Missing insulation. A leaky roof. Windows installed backward. A mold

problem so systemic that a judge keeps her chamber at 55 degrees to try to keep

fungus from growing.

It would be one thing if this litany of problems were just uncovered. But

even before it opened in 1998, the Sam M. Gibbons U.S. Courthouse in Tampa

has been a testament to bureaucratic recalcitrance. It's past time for the

General Services Administration to fix the building, acknowledge its

incompetence and attempt to obtain some compensation for taxpayers.

The latest insult to those who work at the courthouse came in January. In

the midst of $39 million in repairs and upgrades to the $85 million

building, including waterproofing, a GSA spokesman contended mold problems in

the

courthouse had been solved. Less than a week later — after a meeting with

outraged U.S. Sen. Bill , D-Fla. — the GSA apparently reversed course

and agreed to investigate whether air-conditioning ducts or some other

agents are carrying mold.

That's a start, but it's far from enough. The GSA has suggested the

contractor, Construction Group, is to blame for the problems. But that

doesn't answer why GSA inspections, during construction, missed so much. Nor why

the GSA, if it's so sure of 's culpability, never filed suit against

the firm.

says he'll keep the pressure on until he's sure the courthouse is

safe for federal workers. Someone needs to; the landlord certainly hasn't.

[Last modified: Feb 07, 2011 07:15 PM]