The Fayette County Commission has approved a $89,000 project to remove mold and prevent it from recurring in inmate showers at the Fayette County Jail.
The showers at the jail will be coated with a urethane/epoxy material to make them impervious to mold, officials said. The problem with the existing tile showers was that mold was growing in the grout.
Most of the funding for the project will come from $78,000 in leftover funds from a completed jail project to repair the exercise yard, said Capt. Charlie Cowart of the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office, who oversees jail operations.
A consultant who studied the problem said the problem is not believed to be related to ventilation.
“Coating it with epoxy and urethane coating will seal it and supposedly make it impervious so we should not have this problem again,” Cowart said.
In addition to the new surface coating of the tiles, the project will replace the “security type” exhaust grills with stainless steel models.
Cowart said it would take about one week for each of the 10 shower banks to be redone. As each one is underway, inmates in that area will be taken to another jailblock to shower, Cowart said.
The alternative, of moving the inmates to another facility, would cost the county $40 per inmate, per day, Cowart said.
