SRJC building repair costing millions

[Extensive repairs have begun to a water-damaged health sciences building at Santa Rosa Junior College, even as litigation continues over who will pay to fix the leaking walls and windows.

The college trustees this spring awarded a $3.38 million contract for repairs to the William B. Race building. The total cost to address the water damage, including previous repairs, environmental monitoring and architects’ fees, was estimated in May at nearly $7.6 million.

Workers for A.E. Nelson Construction of Rohnert Park recently began pulling the brick veneer off the three-story building, said Curt Groninga, the college’s vice president of administrative services. The bricks eventually must come off all sides of the building, he said.

“It’s probably going to take a year to do,” Groninga said of the repairs.

The building, which originally cost $10 million, was dedicated in 2000 and houses programs that train nurses, dental assistants and medical technicians.

After its opening, staff members soon noticed that water seeped into the building during storms, especially rain accompanied by wind. Eventually officials concluded that the water was entering through the outside walls and near the windows, Groninga said.

The college has continued to use the building for classes. For the past three years the air has been monitored and has remained free of any sign of mold, Groninga said.

Attorneys for the college maintained that the leaks are due to design and construction errors. The college filed a lawsuit in November 2004 against the original general contractor, JW & Sons of Petaluma, and others involved in the building design and construction.

“We have engaged in extensive mediation to date and it has not been particularly productive,” said Bart Weitzenberg, one of the Santa Rosa attorneys representing the college in the case. As a result, he said, the case is “moving forward relatively aggressively.”

Randel Campbell, a San Francisco attorney representing JW & Sons, said the general contractor denies the allegations of faulty construction.

Campbell said the two sides are scheduled this fall to hold another session aimed at resolving the dispute.

Court documents, which already take up 10 separate files, note that the defendants include subcontractors involved in the building’s plastering, windows, brick, roofing and painting, plus those involved with its design.

You can reach Staff Writer Robert Digitale at 521-5285 or robert.digitale@pressdemocrat.com.