Mold damage more extensive, more expensive to remediate

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By Jim Mosher
Friday October 27, 2006

The bad news about a significant mold problem at Winnipeg Beach Municipal Recreation Centre just got worse. Mold remediation specialists recently confirmed that the total cost of work to get rid of fungus in the walls of basement dressing rooms could top $100,000 -- that’s double the original estimate.
The town’s insurance carrier is not happy with this latest turn of events, though it has agreed to cover most of the cost.
Also on the bad news front, the cost of the damage that will not be covered doubled, as well; it will probably top $10,000 now. The uninsured damage predates that caused by a sewage back-up.

Marion Grogan, the town’s chief administrative officer, says mold experts hired by the town have determined that the fungus in walls in the basement of the municipal rec centre is the most toxic kind. “It’s the highest toxic level. I’m extremely uncomfortable with that,” Grogan told a regular meeting of Beach council Tuesday evening. “I’m uncomfortable with that facility being open to the pblic.”
The centre was open as a polling station for Gimli electors, after the town received assurances that fungal spores from the basement area, which is sealed and not accessible to the public, would not migrate to the upstairs voting area.
Grogan noted that there were two separate events at the centre. “There is the sewer back-up issue. There has also been a leaking air conditioner,” she said, adding that the latter damage is not covered by insurance.