Thursday, March 09, 2006
 
The federal courthouse in West Palm Beach is scheduled to reopen in early April, federal officials said Wednesday.
 
The building was ordered closed 16 months ago after water damage from the 2004 hurricanes caused mold and mildew contamination.
 
Trials and hearings were moved to federal courthouses in Fort Lauderdale and Fort Pierce, which have seen higher than normal traffic for the past year.
Judges, attorneys and clerks have been making the trip up to Fort Pierce to use the federal courthouse in St. Lucie County.
 
Regular employees in the Fort Pierce courthouse have cleared courtroom space for weekly hearings, grand jury proceedings and entire trials for Palm Beach County cases.
 
Court clerks in Palm Beach County are working in leased offices on Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard in West Palm Beach.
 
Setbacks in repairing the building in West Palm Beach included a water pipe break in October and an air quality reading this year that still detected mold.
"The renovation is nearing final completion," said General Services Administration spokesman Gary Mote. "Hopefully we can put this all to rest and get them back into the building."
 
Reopening is scheduled during the first two weeks of April, Mote said.
U.S. District Judge William Zloch, chief of Florida's Southern District, said he's waiting for more air quality tests before signing off on the reopening.
 
"No one wants to open more than I do," Zloch said. "I know the strain it's been on the judges, their staff and the litigants and their clients."
 
Zloch said test samples have shown good results except one taken in a courtroom that detected Stachybotrys mold that can give off toxins harmful to humans.
 
After Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne struck in September 2004, some of the 130 courthouse workers complained about headaches, sinus problems and watery eyes.
 
"I have a responsibility to make sure the building is safe for the court family and the general public so they are not being exposed to health hazard," Zloch said.
Mote said the Stachybotrys discovery was minimal and limited to one area on a carpet.
 
Zloch said the 33-year-old courthouse has been a maintenance "nightmare" that he blames on the failure of Congress to adequately fund the building's upkeep over the years.
 
"I don't fault the General Services Administration," he said. "They are doing the best job with a very bad situation to begin with."
 
 
 
 

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