The University of Akron is suing a number of companies over faulty concrete railings at InfoCision Stadium.
The school is suing for $1 million, the amount it will cost to repair the railings, which UA says are due to “poor design, failed oversight and construction deficiencies.” Along with its filing, UA included pictures of the railings, which are cracked and missing chunks of concrete.
According to the Akron Beacon Journal, UA filed the lawsuit against HNTB Ohio Inc., which handled the design and construction administration of the stadium; Welty Building Co. in Fairlawn, the construction manager; Parsons Concrete Contractors Inc. in North Canton, which supplied the concrete; and EPI of Cleveland, which provided the grout to hold the railings in place.
“The way they installed the railing was wrong. It’s not safe,” Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of UA, said in an interview Friday with the Beacon Journal. “That’s dangerous stuff — and we’ve got to get it fixed.”
UA spokesman Wayne Hill said the school tried to settle the matter without a lawsuit but to no avail.
Welty said in a prepared statement that the company served as construction manager for the project, but UA’s lawsuit “relates specifically to railings at the stadium that were improperly installed by a prime contractor."
“Since the problem was discovered approximately seven years ago we have continuously worked with the university to address any safety concerns, to identify those responsible and to get them to fix the problem,” Welty said. “We are not aware of any ongoing safety concerns at this point and we have attended numerous meetings and mediations along with the university and other parties in an effort to resolve the issue. We expect the litigation will assign responsibility for the claimed defects where it is due, and that Welty will be found to have fully and properly performed its contract with the university.”
