City moves forward on park at Providence and Broadway

Before the building at Providence Road and Broadway comes down, the city’s Parks and Recreation Department will need to remove asbestos and properly dispose of painted walls that have high levels of metal.

Columbia plans to build an extension of Flat Branch Park to the corner of Providence Road and Broadway. The Columbia City Council approved the purchase of the old McAdams Ltd. building for more than $1 million. It’s part of the land CVS Pharmacy targeted in its years-long bid to build in Columbia.

Documents released by the Parks and Recreation Department show the levels of asbestos and dangerous metals in the building’s paint. Terracon Consultants wrote that amounts of arsenic, barium, chromium and silver exceeded the levels allowed by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources for “clean fill.” Crews will need to dispose of that material in a special manner at the landfill, parks services manager Gabe Huffington told ABC 17 News Friday.

Huffington said the city would receive a cost estimate for asbestos removal next week. He said the two inspections cost around $3,500 dollars. Huffington did not expect the asbestos removal would be expensive, since SanAir, the firm that inspected for asbestos, found small amounts on certain floor tiles and windows.