Senior center closes due to mold

Last Thursday, Reidsville officials closed the lower level of the Parks and Recreation building, which houses the senior center and fitness center, due to mold.

City officials said in a press release they had requested a consultative visit from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to review their buildings for any maintenance and occupational safety issues.

OSHA recommended during their Dec. 6 visit that the basement of the Parks and Recreation building should be checked for mold and mildew. Preliminary findings show there is mold in the basement, though further testing will be done.

Assistant City Manager Tom Wiggins discussed the situation with City Manager Michael Pearce and said he’d “rather err on the side of caution, especially when our senior citizens and staff are involved.”

The main level of the building, which houses some administrative staff and the gym, tested negatively for any mold or mildew, according to the release.

The senior center staff will be relocated from Washington Avenue to offices at the Teen Center on Sprinkle Street. Recreational staff will be housed on the main level of the Parks and Recreation facility.

The nutrition site is temporarily being moved to the Reidsville Pentecostal Holiness Church at 413 Dameron Road until further notice.

Physical activities will be conducted in the gymnasium area.

Pearce said in the press release that no interruption to the majority of the senior citizen services is anticipated, although some of those services will be relocated.

Wiggins said in the press release that, after testing, the city’s main goal is to find the root of the mold problem and how to address it.

City officials are looking into other temporary options for the senior center participants until the mold problem can be remedied.

Pearce said in the press release that he apologizes for the inconvenience and the city’s first priority is the health and safety of their citizens and staff, which is why they are being proactive in ridding the building of the mold.

Pearce said the city will continue to provide for the senior citizens, but it will temporarily be in a slightly different manner.