Laguna Niguel Library Construction Resumes

The Laguna Niguel Library has a new construction company in place called Tutor Perini Corp., that took over last week after there was trouble with the building's foundation.

In October it was reported that the company that poured the concrete—Ed Rose Construction—requested that the county withhold funds for the job from the general contractor—SMC Construction—until the dispute was resolved.

Robert Genzel, county library construction director, said the problems had to do with the leveling and the sloping of the foundation. And in some areas, the foundation is too wide and in others, it's too narrow.

Genzel said the problems with the foundation may be related to the heavy rains last winter.

“I do think it had something to do with the excessive rain, but the general contractor who was supervising the project [SMC Construction] should have caught those problems and corrected for them before the slab was poured,” Genzel said.

Genzel said Ed Rose Construction would have the opportunity to correct the problems with the foundation and get paid for its work.

The bonding company responsible for financial oversight of the project, Fidelity and Deposit Co. of Maryland, decided to hand the general contract over to Tutor Perini Corp. to finish the job.

On the job last week, Superintendent Jim Greene of Tutor Perini indicated that it's a challenge to build a remodel as opposed to building from scratch. He mentioned unforeseen dry rot behind various sections now in place. Greene is also a Laguna Niguel resident and said he is looking forward to helping build the new library for Laguna Niguel.

"They [Tutor Perini] are anticipating a completion date of late April or early May," Genzel said. "They are also anticipating being able to open the new library to residents in mid-May."