A group of students and staff at Cal State Los Angeles staged a protest on Thursday calling for the demolition of a prominent on-campus building amid growing safety concerns.
The building in question, Martin Luther King Memorial Hall, is one of the busiest on campus as it serves as the home to a variety of programs according to the university’s website. Recently, university officials announced that the presence of mold was found in an air sample taken from a hallway in the building.
In a statement to KTLA, Cal State L.A. said many of the problems with the building, which opened in 1962, have to do with the fact that it’s aging. The school said its facilities team was working to find the source of the mold, and that any needed repairs will be made.
“The university’s new administration is focused on addressing facilities needs and is taking action,” the statement reads in part. “The health, safety and wellbeing of our community is the top priority of the president and the administration.”
In the same statement, Cal State L.A. said asbestos and lead levels in King Hall met U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards.
The group that staged protests outside the hall on Thursday didn’t accept the university’s rebuttal. One group spokesperson who spoke at the protest referred to the building as “Cancer Hall.”
“Today we point our focus towards the cancerous building shamefully called Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Hall,” the spokesperson said. “Cal State L.A. administration is playing fast and loose with the health, lives and safety of faculty, staff, students and children of students.”
The group says several staff members have been diagnosed with cancer over the last two decades. No official direct link between the building and cancer diagnoses has been made.