Sunday, April 30, 2006 | 7:21 a.m.
CARSON CITY - A $13.6 million lawsuit against the state by a Las Vegas builder that was hired to construct a veterans home in Boulder City is expected to be resolved through arbitration within weeks.
Addison Inc., a Las Vegas contractor, sued the state for damages after it was hired in May 1999 to construct the Southern Nevada Veterans Home - only to be fired from the project in August 2001, with the job only about half completed.
Attorneys for Addison say the company was wrongfully terminated and that its reputation has been sullied.
In briefs submitted this month to arbitrators, Addison's lawyers said the state's architectural plans were grossly defective and, as a result, the project was not buildable.
The state failed to provide the information necessary to complete the project, Addison's lawyers said. "Addison and its subcontractors made repeated requests for design corrections and clarifications, responses to which were not given in a timely fashion."
The problems, said Las Vegas lawyers Thomas F. Kummer and Sheri Ann Forbes, caused delays in the construction.
In its lawsuit, Addison said the project was "designed to fail."
The state maintains that Addison fell behind in construction and mismanaged work on the 188-bed home, leading to its dismissal. Another contractor was hired and the project was completed in mid-2002, about $1 million over budget and more than a year behind schedule.
Officials say this was the first project in recent times in which the state terminated a contractor in mid-construction.
The state's lawyers, Kevin Senn of San Francisco and Richard Campbell of Reno, contend that Addison submitted a low bid to win the project and planned to profit by getting the state to order design changes. Addison refuted that claim.
Addison won approval of the state Supreme Court to resolve the breach-of-contract litigation through arbitration.
Hearing the matter are arbitrators Leland E. Backus of Las Vegas, James S. Beasley of Reno and Marcia J. Busching of Phoenix.
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