THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 30, 1994 TAG: 9412290187
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 41 lines
Has Virginia Beach just had a run of bad luck on buildings? Or is there some flaw in the procedures and processes that get municipal and school facilities designed and built?
The questions arise because the School Board this month sued two firms that designed three of the Beach's ``sick schools,'' touted at the time they were built as state of the art. Last month, recurring problems with two rec center pools, touted at the time as the ``Cadillac'' of pools, prompted the city to sue a local architectural firm. As if the Judicial Center, jewel of the municipal complex, didn't have enough business, its defects have prompted several suits and countersuits. And now a sewage spill in the law library cost the city some $12,000 for new carpet, necessitated moving a pipe and in the months - Months? - between the carpet's contamination and its replacement may have made some occupants sick.
Maybe the next time city officials and staff hear ``state of the art,'' they should run the plans up the fancy flagpole at Ocean Lakes High and simply refuse to salute.
Some of these disputes have lasted years, with the city, architects, contractors and subcontractors lobbing lawsuits at each other. Meanwhile, taxpayers foot the bill for experts, consultants and lawyers - and for more building contracts awarded to some of the same firms the city is suing. Why?
If the city needs extra experts and consultants to assess and advise on design and construction, calling them in before the buildings get built would save at least some lawyers' fees. It might save some staff salaries, change orders and middlemen's fees. And it would save some aggravation: The wheels of justice, for instance, might grind faster in that jewel of a Judicial Center if its escalators would just keep moving. by CNB