OPA Closes Yacht Club Restaurant For Mold Cleanup Effort

OCEAN PINES – Ocean Pines Association officials have closed The Cove at Mumford’s Landing following the discovery of mold.

Late last week the association announced that The Cove at Mumford’s Landing, the restaurant inside the yacht club, would be closed, along with the facility’s banquet space, after mold was found during an inspection. The facility is expected to be closed 60-90 days.

“The association’s top concern is the safety of its customers and employees,” reads a statement from the association. “Consequently, Ocean Pines is working swiftly to ensure that proper measures are taken to remove the mold and to prevent any further problems.”

A second statement released Monday said the closure coincided with General Manager John Bailey’s overall evaluation of the association’s food and beverage operations. He’s expected to make a report to the board of directors during a Jan. 27 meeting.

“Ocean Pines Association recently announced the closure of The Cove at Mumford’s to facilitate mold remediation efforts,” the statement reads. “Additionally, it should be stated that General Manager John Bailey had been considering the possibility of closing the facility in an effort at reducing operating losses in the current fiscal year.”

In an interview this week, Doug Parks, president of the board, said Bailey noticed mold during an evaluation of the yacht club. After having the initial mold cleaned up, Parks said Bailey thought it prudent to investigate further to see if there was mold anywhere else. When more mold was discovered, the association closed the facility entirely.

“They  did a general cleanup and J.B. (Bailey) took it upon himself to say you know I’d rather be safe than sorry so he said lets dig in a little bit further and they found a little more,” Parks said. “I really give him a lot of credit for not waiting around and remediating it after the fact. He took a proactive stance. That was a very good move on his part.”

Now that the facility is closed, Parks said OPA officials were collecting bids for mold remediation. The mold has been identified as Cladosporium, a common variety found in areas with humidity, moisture or water damage. Parks said the company selected to handle the remediation would identify the cause of the mold and ensure the issue was addressed.

“They have some initial reasoning as to why it happened but they’ll go through it with a fine toothed comb and replace anything that needs to be replaced,” he said.

Parks credited Bailey, who was hired by OPA in September, for identifying the problem in his exploration of the association’s food and beverage operations.

Parks stressed that the association was simply being proactive by closing the yacht club.

“Under no circumstance was anybody ever in danger,” he said. “There was no public health issue.”

About The Author: Charlene Sharpe

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Charlene Sharpe has been with The Dispatch since 2014. A graduate of Stephen Decatur High School and the University of Richmond, she spent seven years with the Delmarva Media Group before joining the team at The Dispatch.