The general contracting company hired to build The Leonardo museum sued Salt Lake City on Wednesday, claiming the city still owes it $1 million.
In the civil lawsuit filed Wednesday in 3rd District Court against Salt Lake City Corp. and its project representatives, Ascent Construction claims it was not responsible for the construction delays that resulted in the assessment of $5,000-a-day fines. Instead, the Centerville-based company places the blame for the delayed opening of the downtown museum, at 209 E. 500 South in a former library building, on what it claims were indecisive city leaders and last spring’s inclement weather, the lawsuit shows.
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Initially, city leaders had planned to celebrate The Leonardo’s grand opening in April 2011, but the multimillion-dollar, tax-payer-funded project was plagued with delays, ultimately pushing the opening back to October 2011.
The city stipulated in its contract that Ascent had to meet a certain completion deadline, and when that passed, city leaders opted to fine the company $5,000 a day starting in mid-June. By the end of August, officials reported those delays had already cost Ascent $225,000 and counting.
Ascent alleges it was awarded the contract to be the general contractor on the project in June 2010 and expected to be paid more than $5.8 million.
But in its lawsuit, Ascent claims the project floundered from the start, through no fault of its own.
Ascent claims it isn’t responsible for the late opening because there were delays in the issuance of a building permit, extensive design changes requested and required by the city or its architect, delays in the project leaders’ decision-making and in the payment of invoices during critical construction phases, changes in management — including the accidental death of the city’s project manager, Steve England — and because the region suffered from one of the wettest springs on record.
Art Raymond, a spokesman for the Salt Lake City Mayor’s Office, said the city could not comment Wednesday evening because it had not yet been served with the lawsuit nor had a chance to review it.
Ascent said the original planned completion date was Jan. 31, 2011, but that was extended to June 14, a date still impossible for Ascent to meet, the lawsuit claims. Ascent claims it was unable to complete the project until Aug. 17.
Ascent alleges Salt Lake City knew the deadline was "unreasonable and impossible" to meet under the circumstances, but refused to grant an extension beyond the June deadline. The lawsuit alleges Salt Lake City leaders purposefully refused to extend the deadline so it could fine the company.
Ascent claims it still is owed $1 million by the city. The lawsuit alleges Salt Lake City officials instead claim the company is only owed $53,000, and only then if additional work is performed on The Leonardo.
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