Norman Public Library mold issues could be traced back to 2018 as city enters litigation

NORMAN, OK (KOKH) — We continue to dive into the issues surrounding the closure of the Norman Public Library after only being open for five years before closing when there was a discovery of black mold inside the building.

We found documents showing the mold problems with the building could have gone back as far as 2018.

The City of Norman closed the public library in November 2023 due to mold being discovered in the cavity of the building.

Here at FOX 25, through an open records request, we got our hands on more than 2,000 documents in the form of emails and field reports showing mold detection at different times in the construction process.

Some of these pictures and reports show water leakage and mold detection in the building as it was being built in 2018, just 7 months after the initial groundbreaking.

One field report from October 2018 says "mold has shown up in several locations around the perimeter of the building on all floors."

We asked the City of Norman what the process was between the discovery of mold in the field reports in 2018 where we found multiple reports acknowledging mold and the 2023 library closure.

Their reply was a statement:

The City of Norman did not have possession of the building in 2018 yet because it was an active construction site with the contractor being responsible for the construction site. All issues cited in field reports during construction were communicated to the city to have been taken care of by contractors. Issues regarding water intrusion were intermittently discovered since the building’s opening and remedied, to the best of staff’s knowledge, on a case-by-case basis. The extent of damage due to issues still being examined, potentially since opening, was not fully realized until the fall 2023 closure.

We asked for an on-camera interview with the city, but the offer was declined because of the ongoing litigation the city is involved in.

We were told communication is continual with contractors for the City of Norman during all large-scale projects.

We were also told the city would have updates on its website, but the last updated post was in June of 2024.

We also had more questions for the city, regarding their communication with ADG, a construction management company hired to be the Norman Forward Program Manager as well as communications with TMP The McKinney Partnership Architects who oversaw construction once they saw mold and water leakage was present in field reports and if anything was communicated to prevent future issues.

The City replied:

Communication is continual with contractors for the City of Norman during all large-scale projects; contracts that outline budgets and timelines, as well as contractor responsibilities – such as resolving or remedying significant building issues – are agreed upon prior to construction commencement.

We also asked if any issues were brought up in communications with Cavins, a group hired in 2023 for mold remediation, or the Curtainwall design company about what needed to be fixed moving forward to make the library operational again.

“No, Cavins was contracted to mediate water intrusion issues and associated problems after discovery; Curtainwall Design Company was contracted to determine exactly where leaks were coming from and what the deficiencies were that were causing leaks in the envelope of the building.”

We continue to follow the progress of the Norman Public Library and as of now, there is no estimated date for re-opening.

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