40 students living in hotels while APSU removes mold

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40 students living in hotels while APSU removes mold

Students could move into Harvill's third floor by Sunday

By AMY RITCHART

The Leaf-Chronicle, sville,TN

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About 40 students remain in local hotels while work in two Austin

Peay State University dormitories continues following mold removal.

University officials say air quality tests have been completed in

Harvill Hall and an environmental clearance has been issued for

Harvill by a private company. Students living there were able to

begin moving back to the hall's third floor Sunday while drywall

repairs on the first floor continue.

The initial air quality tests for Blount Hall came back

inconclusive, so another test was conducted and university officials

expect to have the results today. Students will likely be able to

return to the third floor of Blount Hall before repairs located on

other floors are completed.

" The top floors in both those buildings were unaffected, " said Joe

Mills, APSU's Director of Housing and Residence Life.

Drywall, ceiling and lighting reinstallation will likely take

between 7 and 10 days, Mills said.

Ben Pratt, APSU Director of the Physical Plant, did not yet have a

completion date for those repairs.

" We have to repair all of the ceilings we cut the drywall out of, "

he said. " We're in the process of putting all that back. "

Pratt said he will compile an official report, combining results

from several consultants at the university to evaluate the mold

problem.

" We're not only analyzing what brought this up on the page, but how

to keep it from happening again, " he said.

University officials closed Blount and Harvill halls on freshmen

move-in day August 24 when they discovered mold inside both

buildings. Students slated to move into those dormitories were

redirected to area hotels.

Mills has said the university is following a well-defined mold

removal plan prescribed by a professional company.

Students can look for updates about the situation on the

university's Housing and Residence Life Web page,

www.apsu.edu/housing/. A Sept. 13 update indicates students waiting

for rooms in those halls will be notified via e-mail when move-in

dates and times are set.

Amy Ritchart covers higher education and diversity and can be

reached by telephone at 245-0200 or via e-mail at

amyritchart@....