ST. CHARLES ? The discovery of mold in a racquetball court at the Norris Recreational Center has prompted St. Charles School District 303 to call upon its mold expert and architectural firm to investigate the extent of the growth.
The end goal will be the same regardless of the severity, Superintendent Don Schlomann told reporters Thursday afternoon.
"We're going to clean it up," he said.
District 303 is especially sensitive to mold after testing in 2001 showed St. Charles East High School had a toxic mold problem. The mold was believed to be responsible for causing respiratory infections, asthma attacks, migraine headaches, tiredness and dizziness among other symptoms in students and employees.
The district spent more than $29 million to remove the mold, and? the school was closed for 18 months.
Although the high school and rec center share a campus, the fitness facility was not part of the mold remediation, Schlomann said.
The district manages the Norris Recreation Center, at 1050 Dunham Road, but the facility is supervised by its own board of directors.
Blueprints of the facility lay on the front desk Thursday afternoon, with the walls in question highlighted in pink. The rec center has been closed to the public since Monday for annual maintenance and improvements, such as window replacement, ceiling tile checks and floor repairs. It is scheduled to reopen Aug. 13.
Crews who were sanding and painting Racquetball Court 3 on Wednesday discovered the mold after coming across a soft spot on an exterior wall in the court's northeast corner, Schlomann said.
Beneath the plaster and wall board lay plastic foam discolored by mold.
By early Thursday afternoon, a swath of the wall had been stripped to the cement blocks lining the exterior face brick. Workers on Thursday afternoon were expected to seal off the area and expose even more of the wall, Schlomann said, noting they were to return Friday morning.
He suspects the mold is all the way up the wall, he said. He said the structure ? the rec center was built in 1974, and the racquetball courts were added in 1981 ? lacks today's practice of including vapor barriers.
Schlomann said he is more worried about the exterior walls, but interior walls also will be checked. Testing can be done with lasers that detect water accumulation by measuring temperature gradients, he said.
Air samples will also be taken outside the sealed area, he said. Chicago-based Carnow, Conibear and Associates conduct such tests for District 303.
The racquetball courts have their own ventilation system, Schlomann said, adding he hopes and expects the mold is contained to the three units.
The district's next steps depend on what's found, he said.
Court 3's northern wall faces Wredling Middle School. Crab apple trees had been near it until they were taken down about three weeks ago, district administrators said.
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