The jury is still out on the old Miami court house. Deliberations continue on mold and the possibility of sick building syndrome. If convicted the building will have to go.
Across the street a brand new 14-story federal courthouse to replace the older courthouse remains unoccupied three years after the date it was supposed to open.
Delays has plagued the project, known formally as the Willkie D. Ferguson Jr. U.S. Courthouse, including major electrical problems, water damage from hurricanes and a dispute between the building's owner, the General Services Administration, and its main contractor.
The mold is "a huge, huge problem," attorney Alan Goldfarb said.
The inability to open the new courthouse effectively means more people have had to work longer in the old courthouse, a Spanish-Mediterranean Revival structure built from Florida Keys stone that is officially named the David W. Dyer building.
Goldfarb and fellow attorneys Liah Catanese and Justin Leto along with a team of environmental experts spent three days in early February checking for mold throughout the Dyer building.
The experts wore masks and protection suits and occasionally asked the attorneys to leave because of concerns about the mold they encountered. Mold has been linked to asthma, allergies, respiratory, skin and eye problems and lung infections, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Mold, mold spores, water damage and peeling paint are apparent on all three floors and the basement of the building, according to their preliminary findings. It will take another two or three weeks for the analysis to determine the type of mold and whether is it hazardous to human health.
Southeast Florida’s high humidity and seasonal rain fall, makes the job of the administration to certify the facility safe, just that much harder.
