The New Jersey Schools Development Authority fired Gilbane Building Co. - the same project management firm overseeing the current expansion project at Rutgers Stadium - from all construction projects at K-12 schools in the state, according to a statement issued by the agency.
The NJSDA terminated their contract with Gilbane in late February for as many as 22 school projects across the state - including contracts in Asbury Park, Barnegat and Vineland - after the company failed to cure the deficiencies stemming from mold infiltration in the exterior walls of Neptune Midtown Community School in a timely manner, according to the press release.
In the notice of termination addressed to Thomas Gilbane, the company's president, NJSDA CEO Scott Weiner said Gilbane has materially breached its contract with the state, which resulted in a yearlong delay in the opening of the Neptune school - originally scheduled for a September 2007 opening.
The NJSDA gave Gilbane seven days to correct the breaches associated with the mold issue, according to the notice of termination and on Feb. 29, the contractor was terminated.
"Anytime a company is removed from a project, there is understandable concern about disruption to the project schedule," Weiner said in a press release announcing the hiring of a new contractor.
Antonio Calcado, the vice president of Facilities and Capital Planning at the University, said Gilbane's termination from New Jersey school projects has not had an impact on their operations at the stadium expansion site.
"It has no bearing on other projects they're doing," Calcado said.
University President Richard L. McCormick said Rutgers is pleased with the work of the company.
"We're very satisfied with Gilbane," he said. "We've worked with them before."
Wes Cotter, the director of Corporate Communications for Gilbane, said the company did its part in fulfilling its obligations to the state.
After state officials found out about the mold issue in January 2007, they proceeded to hire specialists to evaluate the extent of the problem and took proactive steps to ensure the project was not delayed any further, according to the NJSDA press release.
The NJSDA underwrote the costs of remediation and reconstruction, spending millions to take down the brick façade of the Neptune school, which has since been rebuilt, according to the press release on the NJSDA's Web site.
To recover the reconstruction costs, the NJSDA engaged Gilbane and two other contractors responsible for the mold in a five-month mediation process that would go on to determine how much each party would need to pay, according to a March 12 press release from the NJSDA. Following the mediation, Turner Construction, the general contractor, paid the authority $4.5 million, while the SSP Architectural Group offered $2 million.
Cotter said the company did what they promised.
"Gilbane has been saying all along that we lived up to our contract," Cotter said. "We provided the services that we were supposed to provide. We provided management oversight, we made recommendations that would have helped the client and they didn't listen."
Retired Superior Court Judge John E. Keefe Sr., the mediator in charge of the arbitration between the NJSDA and Gilbane, declined to comment on the process citing strict confidentiality rules.
Larry Hanover, a spokesman for the NJSDA, said the agency is planning to file suit against Gilbane to recover the costs of the mold removal and reconstruction of the affected walls.
While it does not mention Gilbane by name, the authority has issued a request for proposals seeking one or more firms that would provide legal services in areas such as design errors or omissions, appeals, government contracting and construction litigation, according to the NJSDA Web site.
"At this point we have no plans to make a payment," Cotter said. "We lived up to our contract. We provided the services that were called for. The mistakes were not made by Gilbane."
The NJSDA is not the only entity questioning the practices of Gilbane.
George Zoffinger, the former CEO of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, said one of his main concerns about Gilbane staying on the job was the company's lack of experience in sports arenas.
"They've never built a stadium," he said.
He was the only member of the Board of Governors who voted against the stadium expansion project in late January,
Cotter said Zoffinger's characterization of his firms was unfair.
"He's completely wrong," Cotter said. "We've built a number of stadiums. I know that he has said that publicly and we have seen those quotes in the paper and we've tried to talk to him. He's completely mistaken."
Zoffinger said Gilbane incurred cost overruns at other major state projects, including Rider University and the Essex County Jail.
He said he is opposed to the expansion because it is contingent on the University having to borrow money in order to complete it.
But Cotter said the comparisons Zoffinger is making are unwarranted.
"We're a $4 billion company, and at any one time, we're working on three or four hundred projects," Cotter said. "So what he's doing is singling out a couple of projects over the last 10 years that had cost difficulties that probably had nothing to do with Gilbane … We're a big company and it's easy with a big company to try to compare projects. It's totally unfair."
