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More asbestos study planned for Warden Plaza

Faced with the prospect of having to deal with a large amount of asbestos inside the Warden Plaza before its renovation can begin, Fort Dodge officials are calling in more expert help to assess the situation.

The state government will pay for the additional study, the Fort Dodge City Council learned Monday.

The vacant Warden Plaza at 908 First Ave. S. has a new owner, and plans are underway to remodel it to house apartments, a restaurant, stores and an art gallery. And while no decisions have been made, a plan getting lots of discussion calls for tearing down the adjacent Wahkonsa Annex to make way for a new two-story recreation center.

Because of the age of the two buildings, project planners figured that there would be asbestos and lead paint to deal with. In September 2016, the City Council hired ATC Group Services, of Des Moines, to check the buildings for those substances.

That company’s report indicated there is probably a lot of asbestos and lead paint present, according to Matt Brown, the president of Formation Group Inc., a Des Moines firm hired by the council to serve as the project manager.

On Monday, Brown told the council it appears possible that every partition inside the Wahkonsa Annex contains asbestos.

The council on Monday hired Impact 7G Inc., of Clive, to conduct additional asbestos testing at a cost of $9,620.

The company will have two tasks: quantifying the amount of asbestos and pinpointing its location in the two buildings.

The state Department of Natural Resources has agreed to reimburse the city for the expense of the additional work.

The Warden Plaza is now owned by KDG LLC, of Columbia, Missouri.

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