Baltimore-based Whiting-Turner Contracting Co. has been contracted by Arch Insurance to finish construction of Dunkin’ Donuts Park, with work on the future home of the Hartford Yard Goats (Class AA; Eastern League) slated to begin next week.
Arch Insurance underwrote the policy guaranteeing completion of the ballpark, albeit a year late. Despite an offer from from the Yard Goats and the city to finish construction of the ballpark, Arch Insurance has maintained it can finish the job, and bringing in Whiting-Turner should be reassuring to all involved. From the Hartford Courant:
Whiting-Turner officials have already been on-site to review the work that still needs to be done, [Arch Insurance senior vice president Patrick] Nails said in an email to The Courant on Wednesday afternoon. Both Whiting crews and subcontractors who have previously worked on the stadium should be on the job beginning next week, he said.
Nails said Whiting-Turner brings extensive experience with sports and recreational facilities “which it will use to complete construction of the ballpark so that we can bring baseball to Hartford next year.”…
“These were complex negotiations, and Arch Insurance appreciates the cooperation of the city of Hartford, the mayor’s office, and Eastern League to bring them to conclusion,” Nails said. “A lot of work remains to be done to complete the park, but we look forward to working with all parties to bring baseball to Hartford in April 2017.”
This surely isn’t the end of the Dunkin’ Donuts Park saga: an inspection by Pendulum’s Jonathan O’Neil Cole, the ballpark architect, yielded plenty of issues with the ballpark as it stands now: some serious, some punch-list items. And with several lawsuits involving previous developers Centerplan Construction Co. and DoNo Hartford, as well as the city (and more likely), this story is far from finished.
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