City firm files $1-M suit against Assiniboine Park Conservancy

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This article was published 24/10/2022 (695 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Another lawsuit has been added to Assiniboine Park’s Leaf project.

In a statement of claim filed last week, architectural firm Architecture49 Inc. alleges Assiniboine Park Conservancy Inc. owes it nearly $1 million in unpaid invoices after construction flaws by subcontractors necessitated redesign work on the project.

The Winnipeg-based firm alleges it began executing the redesign work in mid-2020, only to be told by the conservancy in January 2021 it would not pay the company beyond its initial fixed fee of nearly $5.9 million.

“Despite A49’s request, APC has refused or neglected to pay the unpaid invoices,” alleges the statement of claim.

“Negligence, errors or omissions of contractors that A49 was not responsible for or obligated to supervise, resulted in a change to the original design of the project and delays… In light of the fact that A49 continues to execute the project without pay, the number of unpaid invoices is subject to amendment and will likely increase.”

The lawsuit is the latest of four court actions tied to the construction of the Leaf’s indoor facility.

Architecture49 Inc’s lawsuit comes 16 months after Assiniboine Park Conservancy filed suit against it, KPMB Architects and engineering firm Blackwell Bowick Partnership, alleging design defects delayed the Leaf’s opening and sent costs skyrocketing.

Design defects in the 92,000-square-foot facility’s translucent roof resulted in the suspension of construction in June 2019, with remedial work not undertaken until Aug. 31, 2020, the conservancy alleges in its statement of claim.

The lawsuit alleges the defendants all recommended the “conceptual spiral cable-net roof design” and assured Assiniboine Park they had completed “an exhaustive determination of the viability” of the project.

The lawsuit alleges the defendants provided Assiniboine Park with deficient project drawings and geometry controls, defects in the cable net structure and failed to conduct necessary testing.

In a separate, related lawsuit, the conservancy is suing its insurer, Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Co., alleging it wrongly rejected Assiniboine’s claim for compensation related to the roof defects.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca