Builder Gets Last Deadline on Center

San Fernando city officials have told a builder to finish a new senior center by mid-November or face cancellation of the project’s $800,000 contract.

The 5,200-square-foot building in San Fernando’s Recreation Park was supposed to be completed in July but has been beset by construction delays, said City Administrator Donald E. Penman.

The building is 98% done, Penman said, but the city wants it finished because of the number of delays that already have occurred. Construction began a year ago, but “the last few months have been really slow,” he said.

If the work is not completed by Nov. 19, the city will cancel its contract with Los Angeles-based Lucky Construction Co. and finish the work itself, Penman said.

To pay the cost of completion, the city would use the unpaid balance of the Lucky contract and, if necessary, funds from a bond that Lucky had to post in 1988 to guarantee the job, he said. The city has paid Lucky for most of the work, Penman said.

Most of the remaining work consists of minor items such as floor finishings, doorways and adjustments in restroom facilities, he said. Some are “items that need to be corrected,” Penman said. “We weren’t happy with the workmanship.”

An official of Lucky Construction could not be reached for comment.

Once the center is open, the city will use it to provide San Fernando seniors with daily meals, meeting rooms, seminars and recreational facilities such as a poolroom, Penman said. Two senior-citizen clubs can use the center as a base for organizing trips, he said.

San Fernando’s current programs for seniors are run out of Las Palmas Park, San Fernando United Methodist Church and an existing gymnasium next to the new senior center, Penman said.

The $800,000 project includes a $190,000 renovation of the existing gym in Recreation Park, he said.