Less than two months after the Elbert County Justice Center was declared free of mold contamination and reopened to employees last February, gutters were leaking again and rainwater was pouring against the side of the building.
 
Those were just two of many problems highlighted by a county judge who works out of the often dank courthouse, which underwent a 4 1/2 month, $150,000 cleanup starting in September 2004.
Things came to a head last week when mold was discovered in the judge's chambers and in a courthouse hallway, prompting the second employee evacuation of the facility in as many years.
Mold, which is caused by dampness, can cause asthma and allergies.
 
"Some of the (remediation) work may not have been sufficient to stand up to the weather conditions," said Laurie McKager, district administrator for the 18th Judicial District.
She said it was determined that a wall in County Judge Kevin Sidel's chambers and an area in an employee hallway that turned up positive for mold hadn't even been tested during the initial investigation in 2004.
 
"We're not sure why that wall had not been tested," McKager said.
 
McKager also said she was not certain whether the mold had been there in the fall of 2004 or if it was new.
 
The remediation work, which was performed by the county, was supposed to weatherproof the building and keep water from seeping inside.
 
But beginning March 20 - not even two months after employees were allowed to return to the courthouse Feb. 7 - Sidel began photographing torn rain gutters, wet surfaces on the building's exterior and water-stained ceiling tiles.
 
Sidel questioned whether French drains had been installed around the foundation and complained of new leaks in the roof.
 
Sidel's observations, documented in a Dec. 8 report from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, prompted the agency to recommend a list of fixes that the county should carry out.
 
McKager said the top priorities are removing all mold, properly grading the ground around the building to keep water away, and fixing the downspouts and gutters.
 
Until it is deemed safe, court employees will not be allowed back in the building, she said. They are working at the Douglas County Combined Court in Castle Rock until at least Jan. 27.
 
However, inmates and employees of the Elbert County Sheriff's Office, who work and live in the adjoining jail area, have not yet been moved out of the chronically leaky facility.
 
Sheriff William Frangis wrote to the county commissioners last week that he doesn't have enough reliable information about conditions inside the building to determine whether a relocation of his department would be worth the cost.
 
The county and the state court system are awaiting the latest assessment of the justice center's condition from two environmental remediation companies that have been examining the building over the last several days.

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