Jackson's Thalia Mara Hall temporarily closed two days after mayor said it would remain open

The City of Jackson announced Thursday that historic downtown venue Thalia Mara Hall "is now in a scheduled dark period" after "microbial activity" was found.

The announcement comes two days after Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba told the Jackson City Council at their Tuesday meeting that "the expertise that we have received, they said we should be able to keep Thalia Mara all opened and operating for the short term."

The mayor stated that Thalia Mara does go "dark for about three months annually anyway, so we're going to use that period of time, maybe extend it slightly more" to make repairs.

This "dark period" has unexpectedly arrived.

The "microbial activity was found following a recent malfunction with the HVAC controller," according to a press release sent out by the city Thursday afternoon.

"During this period, mitigation crews will be removing early microbial activity that was found following a recent malfunction with the HVAC controller," the press release states.

No date of when the "dark period" will end was given, only that updates will be provided "on the progress of the remediation and any impact on scheduled events as necessary."

At the council's meeting, Ward 6 Councilman Aaron Banks sharply questioned Mike Williams, Jackson's deputy director of the Department of Human and Cultural Services, about potential mold at the venue. But Williams said there was only "growth."

"There is growth in Thalia Mara Hall is what I was told by the remediation specialist this morning, there's not mold," Williams said. "They cannot certify it as mold. Per their preliminary findings, it is not anything toxic, they said they felt safe in there, but we want to take an extra measure and make sure we get our staff working remotely until we can get a certified report from them."

Williams said it was a development "that happened over the last weekend and rainy week." Part of the HVAC controls failed, he said, resulting in humidity that quickly caused the "growth."

Williams said the "growth" was found out as recently as Monday, but some of the venue's other problems "go back 12, 15, maybe 20 years."

According to Lumumba and Williams, that includes the venue's air conditioning.

"The air conditioning unit is operating at a reduced capacity and it has been, according to what Mike shared with me, for about 12 years," Lumumba told council. "That has not stopped events from taking place. What they typically do is contract for chillers to be connected and support the air conditioning unit."

According to the venue's website, singer and guitarist Joe Bonamassa is scheduled to perform at the venue on Aug. 10, but it's unclear if that show has been cancelled. Comedian Kevin Hart is also scheduled to perform at Thalia Mara on Sept. 22 after postponing shows he was supposed to have in May.

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Calls to Jackson's spokesperson Melissa Payne to ask about what shows are being canceled were not answered.

Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes asked about cancelled shows during the council's meeting. Williams confirmed some had been canceled, but that was due to "miscommunication about the air conditioning capacity."

"When the shows were canceled the promotion partners were not aware that we had the chillers available to supplement the current in-house HVAC system that is working below capacity," Williams said. "We use these chillers for IBC for about three weeks and the building was completely fine, it pushes the same amount of poundage that the house system does."

A discussion was also had about recent ADA concerns at Thalia Mara. In February, the venue went under renovation to turn a freight elevator into a passenger elevator to meet those ADA standards. Williams also said plans to build another external elevator were in the works.

The weight capacity of the venue's rigging system, which is used to suspend items above the ground or stage for events, also needs to be fixed, Lumumba said.

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At the end of council's discussion, Ward 7 Councilwoman and Council President Virgi Lindsay said concerns she had about the venue "could probably deal with potential litigation, so I'm going to hold mine until we get into executive session."

Executive session is when the council votes to go behind closed doors. No media is allowed inside the council's chambers during this time.

It's not clear if the venue is facing any threats of litigation.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Jackson's Thalia Mara Hall temporarily closed two days after mayor said it would remain open