Plano South | March 2022

EDUCATION

Plano ISD considers lawsuit over defects at $67.5Mne arts center The grand opening of the Robbie & Lynore Robinson Fine Arts Center was postponed in December after district ocials said they discovered “signicant cracking as a result of poor workmanship and/or design.” (William C. Wadsack/Community Impact Newspaper)

BY WILLIAM C. WADSACK

BUILDING BREAKDOWN The ne arts center will serve as a home for the nearly 23,000 Plano ISD students in seventh to 12th grades who participate in ne arts programs. • $67.5M total cost • 82,200 square feet • 320-plus performances per year • 1,502 auditorium seats

Plano ISD is considering ling a lawsuit against architectural rm Perkins&Will Inc. and construction business McCarthy Building Com- panies Inc. over design and con- struction defects in the building and grounds of the district’s new Robbie & Lynore Robinson Fine Arts Center. PISD’s board of trustees voted unanimously at a special meeting Feb. 14 to authorize Superintendent Sara Bonser to proceed—at her discre- tion—with a lawsuit over the stated defects and to enforce the district’s contracts with the companies. “Our hope continues to be that we will resolve the ne arts center issues without ling suit, but the administration believes that taking this action is in the best interest of the district in case the situation necessitates a legal response,” Bonser said in a Feb. 14 statement. A planned January grand opening for the $67.5 million ne arts center was postponed in December after nding “signicant cracking as a result of poor workmanship and/ or design,” according to a district release. In an email sent to PISD parents on Dec. 9, district ocials said evidence of signicant cracking in the oors of the ne arts center building “do not meet the aesthetic standards estab- lished by Plano ISD.” Perkins&Will was hired by the dis- trict in 2017, the same year McCarthy

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SOURCE: PLANO ISD COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER

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was named the construction manager at-risk for the ne arts center project. Perkins&Will did not respond to a request for comment. Nathan Kowallis, senior vice pres- ident of operations, said McCarthy has been working to nd solutions to the issues identied by PISD. While McCarthy has proposed solutions, according to Kowallis, work has not progressed and the company has not been paid for all its work. “As a result, we are now ling suit and pursuing the district based on our investigation, the defective design provided to McCarthy and for failing to pay for approved work, approved change orders and the cost to resolve the design,” Kowallis said in a Feb. 14 statement.

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PLANO SOUTH EDITION • MARCH 2022