I support the Project. However, I do not believe t hat The City has thought through what it is going to take to bring the building up to where is can be used by the public. I used to dance in the building when there were dances held there. There was one time where the roof leaked severely and got the wood floor soaking wet. This caused the floor to buckle up about 12 to 18 inches. because the floor is a unique construction of 2x4 pieces turned on end, they came apart revealing that beneath the floor was covered in mold. This made me realize why every time I was in the building my breathing got a little tight as I am allergic to mold. In addition my dance partner at the time who has lung disease also had to start using oxygen in the building because she started having trouble breathing.
The City probably does not realize that there is probably a lot of mold in the building which is not healthy and that They should fix the cause leaky roof and other sources of moisture, then remediate the mold. Simply fixing the causes will not solve the problem as the mold will still be present in a dormant state and can be ****n around.
In addition as previously pointed pout the building had had an issue with lead. However, That was primarily from the shooting range in the ba*****t. Once that was discovered the building was shut down for over 6 months while the lead was remediated. In order to reopen, it would have had to pass sampling to show that there was not lead in air.
That lead though was only one lead issue that exists in the building. Based on the age of the building and that it was military, the paint in the building will most likely contain lead. It may be covered over in places but the paint was peeling the last time I was in the building. In addition, depending on the sources of the paint it may also have mercury or Tributyl tin in it. Those chemicals were used a lot in military paints especially in marine paints. Many times the military just used whatever they could get and sometimes it came form other military installations. The region has a lot of water based military installations that the armory could have gotten surplus paint from. As long as the paint is not peeling, it is not a problem however when doing anything that could cause expose the lead-based paint and create dust would cause potential problems. The city maintenance people should know this. Many buildings and houses that were build prior to 1979 and possibly up to the early 1980's may have lead-based paint.
It is also highly likely that there is asbestos in the building. The major asbestos may have already been identified and either encapsulated or abated. However, that is not a given and there are also sources of asbestos the people do not normally think about including tile flooring. As long as it is
not disturbed or broken up it is not a problem. However if not carefully managed and maintained during building remodeling and use, asbestos could be spread throughout the building.
Finally there are major portions of the building that are not ADA accessible . The main floor is accessible and possibly the lower level from the ba*****t entrances but in general, the building is not ADA compliant.
I strongly support that the building should be used for the benefit of people of Olympia. It is a building that has a lot of historical and architectural significance. It is a great space with a lot of potential. However, I don't think the City realized what they are getting. They were responding to a large public movement to obtain the building and the general public would not know of the potential issues with the building. I am afraid that the City may end up spending a lot of money over time to identify and fix the issues in the building. Hopefully the City can get grants or some other funding help with what may end up being an expensive process.
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