By: Molly Willms//August 2, 2013//
Janesville-based J.P. Cullen & Sons Inc. signed a settlement deal Friday with the city of Milwaukee over facade work on City Hall.
After approval from the Milwaukee Common Council and mayor, the city attorney’s office offered Cullen a settlement deal that includes a contract for the company to repair City Hall’s damaged façade.
Under the settlement, city attorneys will drop a lawsuit against Cullen, its subcontractors and suppliers for their work on the façade of City Hall from 2005 to 2008.
The charges against the design team, which includes Simpson, Gumpertz & Heger; Massachusetts; Bloom Cos. LLC, Milwaukee; and Engberg Anderson Inc., Milwaukee; still stand.
In exchange for the lawsuit being dropped, Cullen will be the general contractor in charge of repairing the damaged façade. It will perform the repairs for $6.7 million, less than half the estimated $14.6 million cost of the repairs.
Diana Pisciotta, a spokesperson for Simpson Gumpertz & Heger, said the company has filed a motion for a change of venue, but had no comment on that or the settlement.
Miriam Horwitz, Milwaukee assistant city attorney, said the request cited “pre-trial publication.” The company wants the trial moved to Waukesha County, she said. The request is awaiting a judge’s approval, and the city opposes it, Horwitz said.
Bloom and Engberg representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The city will now ask a judge dismiss Cullen from the lawsuit, which included it as contractors and the façade design team.
Pending the approval of a judge and the other defendants, the settlement will be final.
According to a news release from Cullen, the work will start in early 2014 and will use a different method of attaching the terra cotta units that cracked and fell from the façade in 2011, leading to the lawsuit.