Arlington County is paying the contractor who built the Long Bridge Aquatics & Fitness Center an extra $1.2 million to make up for project delays.
Despite this overage, the entire project is expected to come in at least $2 million under its overall budget.
It’s a high note to end on for the controversial project, which nearly a decade ago was put on hold after bids well exceeded the original $79.2 million budget, forcing the county to downsize its original plans.
The Arlington County Board approved the $1.2 million payment to the contractor on Saturday.
A report explaining the payment blames Dominion Energy for the delays. Dominion which was supposed to provide permanent power to the new facility by the fall of 2020, but final electrical power was not complete until July 2021.
“This delay hampered completion of critical elements” of the project, the said. “While the County generously granted additional time to the Contractor, the Contractor incurred additional costs due to the significant extension of the contract completion period and the extended general condition costs for the Contractor’s on-site construction staff.”
If the facility had gotten power on time, the county says, the $70.7 million project would have been completed months earlier and within the $5.3 million contingency budget originally approved.
Instead, the overages cost $1.8 million, wiping out the $602,000 that remained in contingencies, thus requiring the extra appropriation.
The Arlington County Board awarded a $60 million contract to design and build the facility to Coakley & Williams Construction, Inc. in November 2017. The contractor and county staff began working with Dominion Energy before construction started to ensure that electrical power could be supplied to the site when needed.
“Permanent electrical power could have been supplied to the site as early as Spring 2019 had work gone according to plan,” the report says. “Dominion received construction permits for electrical work within the right-of-way of Long Bridge Drive in Fall 2020. Work was not begun, and the permit expired. Another permit was issued to Dominion, and this also expired due to inactivity.”
By March 2021, the facility and park had permanent power, but a transformer had to be replaced in July. The facility opened on Aug. 23, 2021 and was closed for emergency electrical repairs in April.