Settlement to Decide Who Pays for Firehouse's $2.5 Million Repair

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A Sept. 11 Tribute Sits in Decay

Settlement to Decide Who Pays for Firehouse's $2.5 Million Repair

By Annie Gowen

Washington Post Staff Writer

Sunday, December 18, 2005; Page C06

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-

dyn/content/article/2005/12/17/AR2005121700913.html?nav=rss_metro

Arlington County's new fire station on South Street was

supposed to open this year as a state-of-the-art tribute to the

firefighters of Engine Company No. 5, the first responders to the

fiery scene at the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001.

Today, the $4.3 million building sits incomplete and nearly

abandoned, the construction site shuttered since the general

contractor was fired in June. Inside, black mold grows on the walls.

Shoddy brickwork on a curved wall above a set of glass windows is

visible from the street.

What went wrong with Fire Station No. 5 -- a messy battle that has

included charges and countercharges of malfeasance between Arlington

County and Dynasty Construction Inc. -- will probably one day be

decided by a judge.

But for now, Arlington County has a decaying building that may cost

as much as $2.5 million to repair and complete, a bill that could be

passed on to county taxpayers, pending the outcome of a settlement

with the contractor's insurance company. The situation has become an

unusual black eye for a county with a reputation for good management

and careful planning.

Firefighters who have observed the drama say privately that the

county has only itself to blame. Records show that when the county

awarded the contract to Dynasty in October 2003, officials were

deeply enmeshed in a battle with the contractor over the remodeling

of the Arlington Arts Center, which has had similar mold problems

and years of delays.

" Very simply, we've had a contractor who failed to perform, " County

Manager Ron Carlee told the County Board during a recent discussion

about appropriating emergency funds for the firehouse's repair.

This week, Carlee declined requests for an interview and would only

submit written answers through a spokeswoman.

" This is a contractor who had previously done good work but had been

in a serious deterioration stage, " Carlee told the board. " We tried

to work with them, but we got to the point where we just couldn't,

and we decided to terminate. "

The president of the Bethesda firm, Barrett III, denied that

his company is at fault and said that county workers caused the

delays in both projects by failing to get construction permits and

other approvals on time.

Dynasty has completed or is working on five school construction

projects in Montgomery and Fairfax counties that have not had

serious problems, officials said. Nor were there serious problems

with Dynasty's work on Swanson Middle School in Arlington.

Barrett said he now regrets his decision to bid for the firehouse

project in summer 2003, when his relationship with the county was

growing more acrimonious by the day. But the allure of building a

tribute for the heroes of Sept. 11 was too strong, Barrett said.

" In hindsight I should have never gone there, but it was a pride-

oriented thing with me, " Barrett said. " There was a lot of pride in

the fact that we were going to be making that fire station. . . . It

was special. Those guys were so brave. But it turned into a

disaster. "

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