IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A judge has ruled that the University of Iowa must pay nearly $21.5 million, plus interest, to a plumbing contractor for work done on the new Hancher Auditorium and university’s Stead Family Children’s Hospital.
Television station KCRG reports that the Johnson County District judge made the decision this week after the Iowa Board of Regents sought to have an arbitrator’s decision favoring Modern Piping Inc., of Cedar Rapids, overturned. The university was also ordered to pay arbitration and court costs.
The children’s hospital project was originally estimated to cost $270.8 million, but ended up costing more than $360 million and was delayed by months.
Modern Piping sued, saying it incurred substantial expenses because of miscommunication, budget overruns and design changes.
