County Courthouse

[Guest guest]

http://www.gopbi.com/partners/pbpost/epaper/editions/today/

The Palm Beach Post

January 30, 2000

MARTIN COURTHOUSE WILL BE CHECKED FOR AIR QUALITY CONTROL

By Eisenhauer

Nearly four years have passed since County opened its rejuvenated

courthouse after spending millions to clean the building of toxic mold - and

county officials say they now want to take another good look at the

building.

During the next few months, they plan to talk to all the major players

involved in fixing the courthouse problems and will conduct a review of the

building and its air-quality systems.

" By doing this review, we're not responding to any major problems or

complaints. We're initiating this just to make sure the systems are

functioning properly, " County Administrator Russ Blackburn said. " We've

spent a tremendous amount of money to make the courthouse have what we

consider the best indoor air of any public facility. "

The courthouse and adjoining constitutional office building were closed for

major renovations from 1992 until 1996 while the county fixed the air and

mold problems that made employees sick.

Harold Markey, the county's building maintenance manager, said the review

will be more like a " checkup " and a chance to compare conditions to what

they were like four years ago.

" For a long time, we've wanted to take a look at where we are today, and

where we were when we first finished the renovations. There hasn't been that

much for us to warrant any great fear, " Markey said. " We basically want to

put together a scope of what we want to do and where we want to go. "

First, that will mean talking to people who work in the courthouse every day

to find out if they have noticed any major changes. Then, Markey said, the

county will talk to some of the engineers and other workers who helped clear

the building of the toxins.

County officials also will review the building's four-year history, which

could mean pulling the files of every recorded complaint during that time.

Markey said he's heard sporadic complaints about the air quality in certain

sections of the courthouse, but follow-up tests showed none was serious.

The most recent testing was conducted in September in the evidence vault.

Clerk of Courts Marcia Stiller said some of her employees complained of

itchy, runny eyes when in the storage area. The tests didn't show any major

air-quality problems in that section of the building.

But Stiller said would still like to see the county test the entire

courthouse just to make sure all the systems are functioning properly.

" I do feel it would benefit to retest the building, " she said. " There have

been a few concerns during the past few years, and we don't want anything to

get out of hand. "

sarah_eisenhauer@...