Connecticut taxpayers have gotten $12.1 million in a settlement with a group of builders over flaws in the construction of UConn’s law-school library.
The mediated settlement became official Wednesday, when the state’s lawyers withdrew its 2008 civil complaint lodged in Waterbury Superior Court against 28 contractors and their subs over problems at the Thomas J. Meskill Law Library.
The state says it already has gotten a settlement check for $12,073,001.20.
Without it, the case (State of Connecticut v. Lombardo Bros. Mason Contractors Inc., et al) was due to start trial in spring or summer 2015, UConn said.
The settlement ends six years of litigation over defects in construction of the library, which was completed in 1996 and renamed in 2010 in honor of the late Gov. Meskill.
It was the last major construction initiative at UConn that the state Department of Public Works handled before legislators turned over responsibility for the UConn 2000 rebuilding program to the University.
Leaks, instability in the library’s granite facade, and other structural and safety problems became evident after the Gothic Revival building opened in 1996, prompting the state to seek a comprehensive review of the construction and design, UConn said in a statement.
Money from UConn 2000 was used to remediate the defects to ensure the building’s safety and structural integrity, while the state tried to work in good faith with the contractors to resolve the disputes and recoup the expenses.
UConn said its legal team had assistant attorneys general Nancy Arnold and George E. Finlayson, with John J. Robinson, a partner at McCarter & English, leading his firm’s legal team working on the matter.