YSU Mold closes Beeghly rooms

Classes in the rooms have been moved to other locations.
YOUNGSTOWN -- A black mold scare has led Youngstown State University officials to close nine classrooms in Beeghly Center for the rest of the year.
Black mold was found on ceiling tiles and under drywall in rooms 104B, 106, 206 and in the hallway outside of Room 106 on Aug. 29. Those classrooms, as well as six others nearby, were closed as a precaution.
Recent air quality tests have found that the mold did not spread outside of the three rooms and the hallway.
Walt Ulbricht, YSU's executive director of marketing and communications, said Wednesday that officials decided to keep rooms 104B, 106 and 206 closed for the rest of the year so that the black mold can be removed. The other classrooms also will undergo planned renovations while closed, Ulbricht said.
The renovations will include painting and repairs to floor tiles.
An independent lab tested a total of 58 air samples collected Sept. 13 and found no evidence of black mold outside of the three classrooms.
Len Perry, the director of the office of environmental and occupational health and safety at YSU, said the mold most likely stemmed from leaks in air conditioners and flooding.
A YSU news release said the presence of the mold generally does not pose a serious health threat, but in some relatively remote cases, the mold can be a source of upper respiratory problems.
Perry has said he had received a few complaints from faculty members who taught in some of the classrooms.
Classes in the rooms were moved to Fedor Hall and other campus sites.