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Workers complain of bad air at courthouseBy LARRY DOUGHERTY © St. Petersburg Times, published August 26, 2000 TAMPA -- The historic federal courthouse in downtown Tampa, mentioned as a possible temporary home for Florida A&M University's new law school, has such poor indoor air quality that 22 workers will be forced to move, officials said Friday. Accumulated mold, insect debris and other particles are to blame for eye irritation, throat infections and allergic reactions among some of those working in the 97-year-old courthouse.
Some court clerks who used to work in the old courthouse asked whether conditions there were responsible for miscarriages or one employee's heart problems. Others described mold on law books and the oak trim of the courtrooms and chambers. Yet a senior federal judge said he never experienced a problem in 15 years in the building, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. He called the structure majestic and said he feared for its future. "The air handling system is inadequate," said Thomas H. Walker, an Atlanta-based administrator. "This is the only one we know of with this type problem." A physician hired by the GSA concluded that mold and other substances in the old courthouse are the likely causes of eye irritation and throat infections reported by many of 16 courthouse employees who stepped forward for interviews. But that same physician, Dr. Leslie J. Hutchinson, said he could establish no cause-and-effect relationship between the bad air and more serious reported problems. The two reported miscarriages weren't statistically high for the number of women involved, he wrote. Yet employees of the clerk of court, who moved from the old courthouse to the nearby Sam M. Gibbons U.S. Courthouse two years ago, were not assured. "You have to understand how frustrating this is to us," court clerk Simone Konner said at the meeting. "We've lost time, we've lost our health. . . . We went through the channels we were supposed to." Margo Gibbs, a property seizure and forfeiture specialist with the U.S. Marshal's Service, attributed her congestive heart problems on the seven years she spent working in the old courthouse. Yet Senior U.S. District Judge William J. Castagna, the only federal judge to stay behind in the old courthouse, said neither he nor his chamber staff had experienced any problems. Nor had he had complaints from the hundreds of lawyers, witnesses and jurors who had passed through his courtroom over the years. "It is a majestic building, and its courtrooms and facilities are appropriate for judicial use," Castagna said. Also remaining in the building at present is a U.S. tax court, and some officers of the U.S. Marshal's Service and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. The neo-classical courthouse is in danger of being torn down soon. The GSA estimates that it will take several years, and between $3-million and $5-million, to cure the building's air. Its problems are complicated by a patchwork of multiple air ducts and air handlers that Walker described as a "Rube Goldberg" arrangement. The Sam M. Gibbons U.S. Courthouse is already filled to capacity after two years. The GSA expects that eventually some federal judges would move back into a refurbished old U.S. courthouse to help ease the crunch. Of the thousands of federal buildings that the GSA owns or leases throughout the country, Walker said, he knows only of one other federal courthouse closed for sick building problems. That was a federal bankruptcy court in Georgia. Widespread mold problems forced the closure of the 5-year-old Imperial Polk County Judicial Complex in 1992. It reopened in 1995 after undergoing $34-million in repairs -- nearly doubling the original construction price of $37-million., It is unclear how big a setback this latest development really is for Tampa's effort to land the new Florida A&M University law school. The former police headquarters building on Tampa Street has its own problems with air quality and lingering asbestos and cannot be used as a temporary site for the school, though city officials say it can be renovated as the permanent location. The old courthouse was mentioned as a possible backup, but Stetson University College of Law already was negotiating with the GSA to lease part of the building. The GSA is breaking off those negotiations pending the resolution of the air quality problems and had not been contacted by Tampa officials about Florida A&M, a spokesman said. Bernard Kinsey, president of the Florida A&M National Alumni Association, said Friday he had not even heard of the old U.S. courthouse as a possible site. - Larry Dougherty can be reached at (813) 226-3337 or dougherty@sptimes.com.
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