Mayor addresses recent Thalia Mara Hall inspection report

JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – The mayor of Jackson addressed a recent report from the State Fire Marshal’s Office that showed 22 fire code violations at Thalia Mara Hall.

The report showed in addition to mold growing in the facility, human waste was found on the balcony of Thalia Mara Hall.

“Homeless people may have been there and used the place for living quarters, maybe had defecated on the balcony,” said State Fire Marshal Mike Chaney.

Some fire extinguishers at Thalia Mara Hall are not up to date, and it’s been almost 20 years since some of them have been replaced. Chaney said Jackson’s building code inspectors should have replaced some of the extinguishers years ago.

In early August, the city was forced to close the facility after “early microbial activity” was discovered following a recent malfunction with the HVAC controller in the facility.

Jackson Mayor Chokwe A. Lumumba said many issues in the report are being addressed. He said many of those issues are minor.

“We’re going to push forward with Thalia Mara. We’re going to fix those minor issues that the State Fire Marshal in our pop up investigation or inspection identified. And what I want to be clear on is that there was nothing discovered that would indicate that that facility is some impending severe danger to the public. And so, we respect the the information that was laid out in that report. And given that that information is there now, we’ll take the time. And I think it’s ideal, the fact that it’s already closed once we remediate the. The challenge with the growth that took place and we allow people back in, then it will give us an opportunity to knock out these challenges,” the mayor said.

In regards to the mold in Thalia Mara Hall, a new chiller has been ordered and will be shipped soon. According to the City of Jackson’s website, it could take four to eight weeks for the repairs to be completed.