Mold Closes Bathrooms at HS Football Stadium

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The Virginian - Pilot (Norfolk, VA.)

 

Restrooms at the stadium where Great Bridge High School plays football were closed this week after a city inspection found mold and other health dangers.

It's the last part of the enclosed area under the concrete bleachers that had still been open to the public. Locker rooms, storage areas and offices have been off-limits for similar reasons since 2013.

Water damage to ceilings and walls, rust on ventilation fans and what appeared to be mold in various places are plaguing the restrooms at Colon L. Hall Stadium, which was built in the 1960s off Mount Pleasant Road. Peeling and bubbled paint were also evident, a city inspection found.

Two restrooms had been open to the public. A complaint sent to the mayor's office prompted an inspection over the summer, according to a city report The Pilot obtained from the school division through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Black mold was visible, according to the anonymous complaint. "The conditions are not good."

The division received the report Monday and closed the rooms, spokeswoman Kellie Goral said. Portable restrooms have been put in place - in time for the Wildcats' next varsity home game Sept. 29 against Grassfield.

The report said the rest of the building — where locker rooms, storage and coaching offices were located — also were checked over the summer. Inspectors found similar conditions, except that mold, rust and debris were worse because those rooms have not been used in awhile.

Portable buildings near the stadium are serving as locker rooms. Those facilities had no obvious health or safety issues, the report said.

The division's capital improvement plan determined that water leaks at the stadium created an environment susceptible to mold.

The plan — a list of desired large-scale projects — includes improvements at the stadium for middle school teams and a new facility at Great Bridge High. But those items would cost almost $9.6 million and are competing with other needs.

Team supporters have recently asked the School Board for help.

"This once fine, proud stadium has become an eyesore in the center of our great community," Beth Bechthold said at the board's last meeting.

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September 22, 2017
 
 
 

 

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