Lawsuit claims Westmoreland failed to pay for cost overruns of courthouse parking garage

The construction company hired to rebuild an underground garage at the Westmoreland County Courthouse claims it still is owed nearly $1 million.

Carl Walker Construction of Robinson filed a lawsuit this week seeking payment for its work to complete the project plagued by cost overruns and delays.

The company was hired in 2022 for what officials said was to be a six-month, $7 million project to tear down and rebuild the underground parking structure. Officials feared it was in danger of collapse because of damage caused by water infiltration into its concrete foundation.

The $7 million price tag was expected to cover all costs associated with the demolition of the old structure and construction of the new garage and other work associated with replacing the courtyard near the front entrance of the courthouse on Main Street in downtown Greensburg.

Cost overruns totaling more than $2 million were caused by design flaws and unexpected construction issues that increased the final price tag. As a result, the project costs rose to more than $9 million, according to the lawsuit.

In April, county commissioners approved a $1 million payment to Carl Walker Construction for additional work, including construction of new holding cells for the sheriff’s department that were removed during the rebuild, and walls, drains, sidewalks and insurance costs.

The additional payment included $40,000 to install a county flag design into the courthouse plaza’s concrete; $70,000 for aluminum lettering that spells out Westmoreland and $100,000 for yellow metal shade sails in the courtyard.

The company says it still is owed more than $968,000 for work needed to finish the project, including installation of additional concrete columns and beams, walls, foundations and other repairs.

“The county has not provided any explanation for its distinction for extra work for which it has agreed to compensate Carl Walker and extra work for which it has refused to compensate Carl Walker,” according to the lawsuit.

The company, in the court documents, claims it received late architectural drawings to design the new garage and courtyard, which delayed completion of the work.

County solicitor Melissa Guiddy cited the ongoing litigation and declined to comment on allegations in the lawsuit.

The garage project originally was expected to be complete in six months but took more than 16 months to finish, with the garage opening in July 2023 and the new courtyard unveiled a month later.

The work, which started in March 2022, required county officials to close off the front entrance to the government office building and reopen a door to the century-old portion of the complex that, for decades, had been unused. The county paid about $134,000 in parking costs for about 140 county workers during the construction. Elected officials were allowed to continue parking at the courthouse during the project.

The original plans for the construction had to be altered after the work started, county officials said.

“Until we tore (the garage) out, we didn’t know what we had,” Public Works Director Greg McCloskey previously said of the cost overruns. “There were material shortages, and architects had to fine tune the drawings.”

Those revised plans called for additional support beams and columns in the garage that could support a four-floor expansion of the courthouse complex above the new parking structure where the courtyard now is, officials said.

Throughout the delays, county officials insisted the construction costs would not increase.

Carl Walker is seeking payment of the money it claims it is owed as well as an additional amount for interest, attorney’s fees, costs and other relief approved by the court.