Sylmar : New Builder Awarded College Library Job

A new construction company has been hired to complete the planned, $11-million library/learning resource center at Mission College, although the dismissal of the original builder is likely to result in the project’s cost exceeding original estimates.

Trustees of the Los Angeles Community College District on Wednesday night awarded a $2.57-million contract to Pasadena-based Shirley Bros. Inc. to continue work on the 57,500-square-foot project. That will cover part of the remaining work, but not all of it, district officials said.

The new company was brought in after the district Board of Trustees last month voted to terminate its original $7.8-million contract with Orange County-based Lewis Jorge Construction Management Inc. for unspecified reasons. The company thus far has been paid about half of that amount.

Robert Grabski, the district’s director of facilities planning and development, said the total cost of the main contract probably will exceed its original amount as a result of the change. But he said the final total will be less than it would had the district stayed with Lewis Jorge.

The district reportedly plans to settle legal claims filed by Lewis Jorge that will involve an additional, unspecified payment. And the district will negotiate with Shirley Bros. for the additional, as yet unspecified, costs of finishing the library project.

The other parts of the project that brought the original estimate to $11 million were about $2.4 million in planning expenses and costs of furnishings and equipment for the complex, which will include extensive computer, video and other reference capabilities.

Meanwhile, Grabski and other district officials said the change of contractors should not delay the complex’s planned completion late this year. The previous contractor was terminated effective Dec. 21, and the new company started the job Jan. 20, district officials said.