Hotels full with It's going to be tough to find a room in Waikiki in the next week.
Hilton tower out
Physicians convention to arrive
Mold a home headache too
while mold keeps 13% of
Hawaiian Village rooms shut
Mold seminar setBy Tim Ruel
truel@starbulletin.comThe annual convention of the National Medical Association starts Saturday at the Hawaii Convention Center and runs through Aug. 8, with an expected attendance of 8,000 people. The association is the nation's oldest and largest association representing African American physicians.
Association officials initially became concerned when Hilton announced last week that it was closing all 453 rooms at the Hilton Hawaiian Village's Kalia Tower because of mold. Hilton yesterday estimated the cost of removing the mold at $10 million, though it's still not clear how long the tower will be closed. Without the tower, Hilton has temporarily lost 13 percent of its 3,432 rooms.
The number of medical convention attendees who plan to stay at Hilton, originally projected at 750, has jumped to 950, said Zenaida McLin, director of convention services for the Hawaii Visitors & Convention Bureau. With conventioneers arriving soon, Hilton has asked convention center officials to divert attendees to other hotels to free up 30 rooms at Hilton Hawaiian Village, McLin said.
But other Waikiki hotels are also running out of room for the next week. "All of them are sold out," said McLin. The last time she checked yesterday, the Ilikai was the only hotel that had available rooms.
Things may not quiet down immediately after the convention ends, either. The Japanese Obon holiday hits in the middle of August, and is going to take up a lot of rooms, said Frank Lavey, general manager at the 1,230-room Hyatt Regency Waikiki.
Even though the major hotels are full, Hilton should be able to find other rooms in Waikiki if it runs out of space, said William Hurley, general manager for the 1,852-room Sheraton Waikiki.
A Hilton spokeswoman had no immediate comment yesterday. Last week, a Hilton executive said he expected the hotel would probably run out of rooms in early August.
In a conference call with analysts yesterday, Hilton officials again identified high humidity as causing the mold in the new Kalia Tower, but declined to say what was responsible for causing the high humidity.
"My guess is that we're going to find there's a number of different contributing factors here that have created kind of a complicated situation but all we know for sure at this point is that it's most likely caused by excessive humidity in the rooms but that's about all we can say with much certainty at this point," said Pat Terwilliger, Hilton's senior vice president of architecture and construction.
BACK TO TOP |
The detrimental health effects of mold have only recently become a hot topic in Hawaii since mold was discovered in the newly built Kalia Tower at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. Mold problems have
proved a headache
for home insurersBy Lyn Danninger
ldanninger@starbulletin.comBut in states like Texas and California, mold has been giving home and building owners and insurers the jitters for several years.
Insurers in particular have been running for cover since a Texas jury awarded a family $32 million in a toxic mold lawsuit against Farmers Insurance Group in June 2001.
Only two months after the verdict, Farmers, which had failed to cover the cost of repairs of a water leak in the family's house, and Progressive Insurance Corp. joined Allstate to stop selling comprehensive homeowners policies in Texas that include coverage for water-related losses.
State Farm, the state's largest insurer, filed an application with the Texas Department of Insurance to limit coverage for water-related losses and said it would stop selling new homeowners policies in Texas because of losses related to mold damage.
The company said mold-related claims rose fivefold in the first half of this year.
In California, the mold issue received national attention when activist Erin Brokovich announced she, her husband and three children are all battling mold-related illnesses due to fungus that has contaminated their home.
In Hawaii, apart from the Kalia Tower incident and a building housing Maui County employees, mold has attracted little attention, in part due to limits on it in home insurance policies, say those familiar with the situation.
"Mold has never been a covered risk in any policies we are aware of," said state Insurance Commissioner, Wayne Metcalf.
Linda Gilchrist, president of Island Insurance Co., notes that most policies in Hawaii exclude mold because its viewed differently than a sudden unforeseen event like a fire or flood.
"Insurance is designed to cover the unexpected and the fortuitous losses," Gilchrist said. "It's not designed to cover maintenance-type things that homeowners can go in and repair and predict."
Mold coverage has always been excluded because homeowners can see it growing and take care of it, she said.
Yet there are areas in Hawaii where ideal mold conditions prevail.
"We do have a lot of mold but we haven't had incidences of people getting sick such as on the mainland, possibly because our homes are better ventilated," she said.
Gilchrist said a good example of what is covered relates to water damage.
"We cover sudden water damage but we don't cover the leak you notice under your faucet," she said.
State Farm spokeswoman Carolyn Fujioka said mold-related claims are uncommon.
"We have not seen a rash of reports although it does happen," she said. "Mold has always existed but by definition takes a long time to occur. Typically what is covered is something sudden and accidental."
BACK TO TOP |
MoldPro International, a Kailua-based indoor air quality investigation firm, will sponsor a seminar on mold contamination issues from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Aug. 16 at the Hawaii Prince Hotel. Mold experts
to host seminarStar-Bulletin staff
A key speaker will be Dr. Harriet Burge of the Harvard School of Public Health, considered the leading expert on indoor air quality.
They will cover legal issues with mold, health effects, investigations, interpreting reports and remediation techniques.
MoldPro International is presenting "Mold University -- Understanding Toxic Mold Fundamentals" in Honolulu, Houston and Dallas, Texas, with EmLab.
Co-sponsors are Building Industry Association-Hawaii, National Association of Industrial and Office Properties-Hawaii and the American Indoor Air Quality Council.
The cost, including continental breakfast and lunch buffet, is $295. For more information or to register, call MoldPro, 262-0909, or see: www.moldprointernational.com.