With ousted developer Centerplan Construction allowed to photograph current conditions at Dunkin’ Donuts Park today, it looks like work on the future home of the Hartford Yard Goats (Class AA; Eastern League) could indeed resume this week or next.
The current backstory: Baltimore-based Whiting-Turner Contracting Co. was contracted by Arch Insurance to finish construction of the ballpark, with work slated to begin this week. Last week Centerplan Construction filed suit to prevent that work from beginning. Centerplan and DoNo Hartford had been responsible for work done to date on the $71-million project until the city pulled the plug on their participation, arguing that the ballpark construction was late and over budget. The lawsuit was filed by Centerplan to allow time to document the current condition of the ballpark as evidence in other lawsuit filed against the city and Yard Goats owner Josh Solomon. Today reportedly Centerplan reps and city officials did indeed document the current condition of Dunkin’ Donuts Park, clearing the way for construction to begin this week or next. From the Hartford Courant:
The photographic tour of the $71 million, publicly financed project would appear to put to rest concerns that an emergency motion filed by a former developer to preserve evidence could stop work from resuming as early as this week.
Centerplan’s attorney, Raymond Garcia, said last week that his client was not trying to prevent work from restarting, and that a motion filed last Thursday was only seeking to document conditions as part of legal action it initiated against the city, the baseball team and the team’s owner, Josh Solomon.
Garcia was not immediately available for comment Tuesday.
As we wrote last week when the news of the Centerplan lawsuit filing took place:
“But it shouldn’t take more than a day or two to document the shortcomings in the ballpark, especially when the project architect, Pendulum’s Jonathan O’Neil Cole, went through the project and documented its many shortcomings.”
It did indeed take a day.
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