Park District Terminates Contract with Ackerman Builder

The Glen Ellyn Park District terminated its contract with T.A. Bowman Constructors LLC, the contractors who built the Ackerman Sports and Fitness Center.

At a special meeting Wednesday, the park district commissioners also voted to terminate their contract with Ollmann Ernest Architects. To take their place, the commissioners awarded the contract to Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc.

Immediately after voting, the commissioners went into another executive session and adjourned the meeting. As of press time, the details of the new contract and the exact reasoning for the termination of the other contracts are unknown.

There was also no public discussion on the issue at this meeting, although a half-hour executive session preceded the vote. Park Board President Melissa Creech said there will be a press release available Thursday.

However, it can be assumed that the ongoing roof issues with the Ackerman facility played into the board’s decision to terminate the contract with T.A. Bowman Constructors.

The roof of the 88,000-square-foot complex has been leaking for several months, and the reason why it and how to fix it has been perplexing park district officials and contractors.

In a , T.A. Bowman manager Tom Bowman said there was some unfinished roof work, but was unable to go into specifics at the time.  

In a March 23 blog post, Creech said the facility was a “very large liability” for the park district, and fixing it will leave “little left over for other unforeseen maintenance expenses.”

The park district also had to dish out for more money for the complex than it planned. In January 2010, the Ackerman complex opened with a price tag of $11.2 million, even though it was originally slated for $7.4 million.

For their part in the construction, T.A. Bowman was paid $1,539,000, according to an Oct. 7, 2008 contract with the park district, which Patch obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.