"In November of 1999 we only had schematics," Dean Stratouly, a powerful local developer who heads the MCCA board, tells GlobeSt.com. "At that point we were just estimating and that is so unreliable."
Reportedly, Tishman Construction Corp., which is under contract with the MCCA, gave the MCCA a clear estimate then that demonstrated that costs were rising very quickly. According to Andy Antrobus, spokesperson for the MCCA, even if Tishman had provided project manager Walter Upton with an estimate back in November of 1999, it wouldn't have been taken too seriously at that point. According to Stratouly, the first three bids for the center came in under budget.
"It was only the steel bid that was a bust," he points out. Bids for steel for the convention center, which were only conducted this past summer, came in nearly $50 million above budget. The MCCA was eventually able to get the bid down to $11 million over budget.
"After the steel bids, the idea that we had a budget problem was clear, but the magnitude was overwhelming," Andy Antrobus, tells GlobeSt.com. "The marketplace went wild in that intervening time after our steel bids. It was about the first of this year when we acknowledged that we were about $100 million over. At 75% construction, it's a much more reliable figure. We didn't hold any information in."
Meanwhile House Speaker Thomas Finneran has stated that the House Post Audit and Oversight Committee may investigate the convention center budget. "It is something the speaker is looking at," Charles Rasmussen, spokesperson for Finneran, tells GlobeSt.com. "When the information came out about the budget problems he mentioned it as a possibility. He is talking to the appropriate committees."
Stratouly emphasizes that the convention center is not over budget. "The system allows us to do checks--that is the whole process we're engaged in. We're always making adjustments. If we were to build today we'd have a problem, but we're not." Stratouly notes that the MCCA has an "exhaustive" list of modifications that can be done to bring down the potential costs of the project.
These include flattening the roof, changing the HVAC system, putting the parking outside, taking off the ends of the building or postponing construction indefinitely till prices comes down. "That is a real possibility," he says. "Every labor union here is fully employed which causes a rapid run up in labor but that is an anomaly that is unique to this area." Once all the construction is finished here, Stratouly adds, labor prices could settle down.
Stratouly acknowledges that shelving the center for a while could mean the convention center hotel might not happen. "There are a lot of interrelated pieces here," he points out. "What happens to the whole waterfront area if we don't build?"
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