County official details downtown project problems

Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2003 | 9:47 a.m.

Clark County's troubled construction projects, the Regional Justice Center and the adjacent Clark County Detention Center, remain just that -- troubled, a county official told the county commission Tuesday.

Randy Walker, who is usually the director of the Clark County Aviation Department but last year was placed in charge of the construction project downtown, recited a litany of problems at the long-delayed Regional Justice Center downtown. Planned to house local and state courtrooms that easily connect to the already completed detention center, the justice center is 20 months past its completion date and still far from finished, Walker told the county commission.

He said it would be possible to make a revised target date of January, but there remains "a substantial amount of work to be done."

Walker added a new problem to the county's familiar laundry list of issues at the justice center. Along with substandard and incomplete work, Walker said courtrooms and fixtures at the justice center are being vandalized.

"We are starting to see a lot of malicious damage to completed parts of the building," he said.

AF Construction, the project's general contractor and combatant in a legal feud with the county, has assigned security to completed parts of the building, Walker said.

Walker also revealed that because of deductions due to delays and incomplete, but already paid for, work, AF Construction is not now drawing any income from the project. "Liquidated damages" for construction delays alone are costing the company $12,000 a day, he said.

He said one major problem is that seismic braces required to earthquake-proof the building were never installed, and despite requests by the county, are still not in place.

AF Construction President Paul Faulkner declined to make a point-by-point refutation Tuesday, instead referring questions to the company's lawsuit and request for arbitration on the twin detention center and justice center projects.

In a suit filed last week, the company demands repayment of more than $4 million in fees retained for the detention center project and arbitration to settle the money issues on the justice center. The company said in a release at the time that plans for both projects were defective.

Faulkner said his company is "committed to finishing in as timely and professional a way as possible."

Walker said the $130 million justice center project is about $5.7 million over budget, but the real problem is the overdue nature of the effort.