Historic Town Hall damaged by malfunctioning HVAC unit

ThisWeek CW 02/27/2014

http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/canalwinchester/news/2014/02/24/historic-town-hall-damaged-by-malfunctioning-hvac-unit.html

Portions of Groveport’s historic Town Hall will be undergoing some unexpected renovations following the failure of an HVAC unit which dumped more than 1,000 gallons of water into the building.

City Administrator Marsha Hall said the air handler of the attic HVAC system malfunctioned, allowing 1,159 gallons of water into the building Feb. 12, which damaged parts of all three floors and the basement.

“The damage was done in the offices and hallways in the rear third of the building,” Hall said.

“Damage was done to the floors, walls, office furniture, computers and other electronics. The walls are currently being dried out from the inside to determine what is going to be salvageable.

“Unfortunately, portions of the ceilings have already fallen and some light fixtures were destroyed.”

However, there is some good news, according to Hall, in that the front portion of the building housing the meeting rooms and the museum did not suffer any damage. The city’s insurance should cover most of the repairs to the areas that were damaged, she said.

“We have a $10,000 deductible, so we are hoping that all costs over that will be paid by the insurance company,” Hall said. “We have no idea how long the building will remain closed, but we’re assuming at least through the month of March.”

For the time being, the city’s community affairs staff has relocated to Kidspace, 630 Wirt Road.

“We’re up and running, but our offices have been relocated to work out of the library at Kidspace,” program coordinator Tina Dillman said. “We have our fingers crossed to be back at Town Hall by April.”

Dillman has planned a scaled-back class schedule for the month of March which includes:

* Grow With Me from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Tuesday and Wednesday

* Rock n’ Rollers from 10-11 a.m. Thursday

* Preschool Picassos from 10-11 a.m. Friday

* Colors of the Rainbow, 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 12

* Edible Spring Craft, 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 26.

Two other children’s programs scheduled for the Nature Center will be offered as well: Feathers and Fur will be offered at 11 a.m. Saturday, March 8; and Spring has Sprung will be offered at 11 a.m. Saturday, March 22.

More information on the adjusted schedule is available online at www.groveport.org or by calling 614-836-3333.