More Delays Seen In Park Lakes Elementary Opening

by Bill Hirschman and Jamie Malernee, Education Writers
Posted August 3 2002

The opening of Park Lakes Elementary in Lauderdale Lakes — promised to minorities but stalled for 13 years — could be delayed again because the builder has not been paying his subcontractors, school officials say. The president of Danville-Findorff Inc. says the work will be done in time for the first day of class on Aug. 26, but district officials are divided about the prospects.

On July 22, Deputy Superintendent Tom Calhoun blamed delays at Park Lakes and other schools primarily on excessive rain and the need to remove mold-ridden drywall. But on Friday, the school district’s chief inspection official, the architect on the project and a subcontractor agreed that the delays were because of subcontractors not getting paid and therefore not showing up to work. At least one bonding company has "lent assistance to subs that were owed outstanding monies," said Bob Goode, the district’s director of compliance and inspection.

Dana Shelden, president of Danville-Findorff, said subcontractors were paid on time, but might not always have gotten all the money they thought they were owed. He said one reason "might be" because the firm held back money while the subcontractors repaired substandard work. The payment problems at Park Lakes Elementary date back as far as last spring, said Daryl Bowden, vice president of subcontractor Errington Construction in West Palm Beach, which has been hanging doors. Bowden said he has been owed $7,000 since April — small potatoes compared to other companies, he said. Bowden said that the summer’s heavy rains had little to do with delays: "If [a job] needs 10 men, they’ll be lucky to have two out there if they owe me money. … We have to pay our bills too. At some point, your suppliers cut you off."

The persistent unanswered question is whether the school will open on time. District construction officials have grown increasingly pessimistic with Goode saying Friday evening, "I don’t think we’re going to make it." But School Board member Ben Williams said Friday that he had been assured Wednesday that the issue had been resolved and the school would open on time. "The people have been paid and they are working day and night to make this happen," he said.