WTOL.com, Toledo's News Leader, News 11 | Squaring off over Southwyck Mall -- who won?

Squaring off over Southwyck Mall -- who won?

TOLEDO -- The debate over whether or not Southwyck Mall will close over possible black mold and asbestos has been decided -- at least for now. City inspectors took a second look on Monday and decided the mall may stay open, News 11 Rob Wiercinski reports.

Mall operators had been given until Monday to clean up what the city said were dangerous conditions. Southwyck officials said a third party conducted an inspection on Friday finding no evidence of anything dangerous inside the mall.

Rob talked with mallwalkers on Monday. View the attached video for the full story, folks.

From a City of Toledo news release:

An inter-departmental team from the City of Toledo inspected the Southwyck Mall today at 8:00 a.m. in response to the May 8^th, 72-hour notice to mall owners/operators to abate unsafe conditions.  The team consisted of inspectors from Toledo Fire Inspection, the Department of Environmental Services, and the Division of Building Inspection.

Inspection revealed that efforts had been made by the mall's management, sufficient to abate the unsafe conditions and bring the building(s) into substantial code compliance: a 2-hour fire wall was installed at the former Montgomery Wards sealing that building from the main mall; ceiling tiles in the public areas of the main mall which had shown evidence of mold and mildew from roof leaks had been replaced.  A letter, signed by Commissioner Zervos, was left with the mall's management (see attachment) directing the operator's to continue to complete the repairs.  The letter further instructed that cautionary procedures be employed during the corrections to protect the public health and safety of those persons using the mall.

The open issues remaining with the mall's management are those relating to the inoperable fire suppression systems at the former Dillard's and Montgomery Ward's stores which must be annually tested and made operational by June 2nd.   Further, issues yet to be addressed are the handling and remediation of asbestos identified in those areas.  The City awaits air monitoring testing results that were conducted last Friday by OSHA.  The outcome of these test results could further affect the on-going operation of Southwyck Mall.

Updated by KO