Newspapers / University of North Carolina … / Jan. 23, 2013, edition 1 / Page 2
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Photo by Trevor Metcalfe- Editor and Chief Air quality tests led to the discovery of mold in the Humanities Lecture Hall, which is now closed. Classes have been moved to Rhoades/Robinson room 125. Lecture Hall under renovation following mold discovery Shanee Simhoni ssimhoni@unca.edu - Staff Writer Roof repairs and a musty smell spurred a long overdue cleaning and renovation of the Humanities Lecture Hall, one of UNC Asheville’s most dis tinct larger spaces, according to university officials. “Back in the middle of 2011, somewhere in there, we started getting a lot of complaints of odor issues in the Humani ties Lecture Hall,” said David Todd, the director of facilities management and planning at UNC A. “Other than the few leaks coming into the build ing that we had contained, we couldn’t find anything, couldn’t see anything.” After the repairs on the roof last summer, as well as exten sive cleaning, the odor per sisted, said Todd, an Asheville native. “We had an indoor air qual ity assessment done,” Todd said. “They ran their test, and the results of the test came back and indicated that there was evidence of mold in the plaster material applied to the ceiling, inside of the seat cushions, in the carpet and in the HVAC ductwork.” The tests indicated the mold count in the ambient air to taled less than one-third of the amount in the outside air. How ever, Carmichael Hall showed no signs of mold after some minor renovations and clean ing, according to the industrial hygienists conducting the tests. “We had them take core sam ples out of the ceiling material, we had them actually cut up a section of the carpet, we had them remove a seat cushion and we had them run inspec tion tools down to the ductwork and put out what they call spore traps,” Todd said. UNCA viewed the situation in the Humanities Lecture Hall as a priority and decided to take action, according to Todd. “Extensive air quality test re ports have shown no imminent health risks in the building,” Provost Jane Fernandes said in an email announcement in October. “Out of an abundance of caution, I have decided to relocate classes to other spaces on campus.” UNCA has only four large areas available for lectures: Lipinsky Auditorium, Rhoades/ Robinson Hall room 125, Karpen Hall room 38 and the Humanities Lecture Hall, ac cording to Patricia McClellan, the assistant provost for aca demic administration. “I am writing to make cer tain that you are aware that the Monday lecture for Humanities 124 classes has been moved from HLH 139 to Rhoades/ Robinson (RRO) 125. This change is effective Monday, October 15, and will continue for the remainder of the semes ter,” said McClellan in an email sent to students last fall. Rhoades/Robinson room 125 has approximately half the amount of seats as the Humani ties Lecture Hall, resulting in some humanities sections be ing moved to different rooms and night classes ending as late as 9:30 p.m., according to UNCA data. “It seemed more precau tionary than reactionary,” said Joseph Baker, a sophomore who attended the humanities lectures last semester. “It was just a little bit more crammed, but everyone still attended the lectures.” In addition to sections of Humanities 124, 214, 324 and 414, the closing of the Humani ties Lecture Hall affected some art lectures, which relocated to a significantly smaller room in Karpen. “It was of concern to me, because for the fall. I’m over at the art department, and the art department was holding its large first-year classes there,” said Gwen Ashburn, the dean of humanities and professor at UNCA. “I certainly under stood the decision.” The Humanities Lecture Hall, built in 1966, gives the university character, said Ash- bum, a literature professor. “I’m glad we are renovating it again. It’s a funny-looking little building. It looks like see MOLD on page 3
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