A remediation expert on Tuesday told members of the City Council, "Every species of mold you can think of was growing at the Chattanooga Police Department."

Aaron Sheppard of BELFOR Property Restoration, said when his company began cutting into ductwork at the building at 3410 Amnicola Highway mold was found three-fourth inch thick.

Mr. Sheppard said the close inspection of the building found that multiple mechanical systems were not working or had been hooked up wrong. He said, "We stopped counting at 17 (non-functioning) systems."

The council was also told that there is a large amount of asbestos, as well as dangerous PCBs, in the building that was constructed in 1974.

The council's budget committee looked at several options at the now empty police headquarters, including a $36 million total rebuild that would include an extension on the north. The rebuilt building would have three floors.

Council members indicated support, instead, for rebuilding using the existing foundation and structural supports, plus doing the north extension. The existing building is two floors. That would cost $25.9 million.

Public Works Administrator Jay Wood said he was confident that the existing floor and supports would be workable. He said windows, that were found to have been caulked and left rainwater running inside, would all be replaced.

Council members discussed whether the major funding need would all come from the city's unreserved rainy day fund or partly from a bond issue. Chip Henderson, chairman of the budget committee, said he favored bonding some of the debt so the reserve fund would not get too low.

Officials said the rebuild of the police headquarters would yield 70,000 square feet of space - enough to bring police training officers back from the crowded Fire Training Center nearby.

Currently, police personnel are in several locations, including some space provided by the county, it was stated.

Police Chief John Chambers said he had noted around May-July 2025 that "you could feel the moisture" in parts of the building. He said the issue was detected multiple times, so the vendor contracted for monitoring the system was contacted.

Chief Chambers said he was told that at some point someone had requested that the setting be changed on equipment monitoring moisture in the building from 52-54 to 72. He said, "To this day they cannot recall who requested that."

Police official Taylor Walker said she and her team began making walk throughs in the building "and we started hearing about mold."

She said a custodial "deep cleaning" took place along with other remediation efforts with costs of some $1.2 million, but those did not correct the problems.

She said it was concluded "that things weren't right and we needed to fix it."

Chief Chambers said in areas of the building with concerns "we knew that people couldn't be there. So they were moved out."

Mr. Sheppard told the council that before a full examination, "I knew we had mold, but I had no idea how pervasive it was."

He said equipment on top of the building that should have helped with the moisture problem "was not plumbed right. I don't think it ever worked."

Also, he said, the building's electrical system "is obsolete."

Officials said the 911 Building just to the south of the police headquarters was built later and does not have the same health issues.