According to a lawsuit, Chicago -based subcontractors have appealed to one of the companies involved in the construction of the President Obama Center for $ 40 million, and the excess of racial practices can cause bankruptcy to bankruptcy. He claims that he was forced to work.
Robert Mcgee, the owner of II in One, provided a concrete and reinforced reinforced service to the center since 2021, and filed a lawsuit last month in the New York -based Thornton Tomasetti in the Federal Court. project.
In Mcgee, THORNTON TOMASETTI has changed the standard, imposes new rules for reinforced intervals and tolerance that are different from the standards of the US concrete Institute, and has a large -scale overrun with “excessive strict and unnecessary tests”. I claim that I brought it.
This claims that Mcgee has asserted that it has affected productivity and has generated a widespread documents that have led to millions of losses. Lawsuit。
However, Songton Tomasetti defended the action almost a year ago, and the subcontractor wrote a litigation saying “suspiciously qualified”, and the delay was due to their own drawbacks.
The Obama President's Center is built near the Chicago Jackson Park and consists of planned museums, libraries, communities, and conference facilities.
The center contains a non -profit Obama Foundation, which supervises the development of the center, and operates a scholarship program through the Harris Policy School at the University of Chicago.
Mcgee claims that Thornton Tomasetti accidentally blame II and claims that it is one of the lack of qualifications and experience in doing that job, but does not own non -plants. The contractor states that he is well qualified.
He is looking for a repayment of about $ 40 million construction costs.
“In a shocking and discouraged event, the owner of African Americans, a local construction company, finds himself and his company on the brink of forced closure for racism by structural engineers.” I read the lawsuit.
“The II and its joint ventures are subject to unfounded criticisms, honor AM losses and discriminatory accusations by the Obama Foundation structural engineer Songton Tomasetti.
However, in the attached February 2024 memo, Songton Tomasetti claimed that the construction cost and delay were clearly driven by the subcontractor's II, “all of them were clearly driven by lack of performance and lack of experience.”
In a memo,, Thornton Tomasetti shared cracked slabs and exposed reinforced images.
In the memo, Southton Tomasetti spent a few hundred hours of reviewing, analyzing, redesigning, and responding to the Obama Foundation, and the contractor “caused many problems in this field.”
Songton Tomasetti said that concrete issues were only due to the contractor's performance.
“We can't wait while the contractor is trying to blame our design team's shortcomings,” a note.
This memo is “Southton Tomasetti and the architectural company that” more qualified subcontractors are a suspicious qualified subcontractor team in the area that did not need it, and everyone knows what they know. I bent. “
This project has faced problems in the past. Construction was initially expected to start in 2018, but returned to 2021. It will open in 2026.
Some community activists argue that new centers may cause home prices, raise their rent, and set many people living in the area.
Environment activists also argue that they are critical of the project, which will remove too many trees and destroy bird habitat.
According to Newsweek, activists appealed to prevent development, but the plan to build the center was approved shortly after the lawsuit was filed.
The Supreme Court refused to hear the case in 2021.
Obama says that the center wants to promote the south side of the city and help them connect the Chicago people.
The Democratic Party has neglected these controversy with a breakthrough speech in 2021, saying that the center “plant new trees” and “provide new habitats for birds and wildlife.”
Fox News Digital contacted the Obama Foundation, Sorton Massetti, and II for comments, but did not receive an answer before the release.
Fox News's Michael Lew has contributed to this report.
