Fayetteville’s years‑delayed Fire Station 4 will be torn down and rebuilt from scratch after the city council voted Monday to accept a consultant’s recommendation that the structure is too compromised to salvage.
The decision follows a 57‑page report from Applied Building Sciences (ABS) that documented extensive construction failures at the Bragg Boulevard site and placed sole responsibility on the project’s former contractor, W.B. Brawley Co. The city terminated the Wilmington‑based firm in late 2024 and is now locked in dueling lawsuits over who is to blame for the project’s collapse.
Steve Moore, who directs ABS’ Charlotte office, delivered the findings to council members during their meeting on Monday. He told them the building’s defects were so severe and intertwined that repairing the structure was not a safe or reliable option.
“In over 17 years of work in this area, I have never recommended that a partially constructed building be torn down,” Moore said. “However, it is our opinion that the extent, severity, complexity of potential reviews of the identified construction‑related issues warrants this recommendation and implies ABS’ serious concerns about this building.”
Council member Deno Hondros pressed Moore on whether the station could be safely repaired.
Moore’s answer was unequivocal: no.
“There’s too many unknowns,” he said. “Our concern is providing a building to the city that provides guaranteed long‑term success.”
ABS’ formal recommendation states: “The existing building be completely demolished, including the superstructure, foundations, and remaining systems that are installed to allow for reconstruction of the building.”
Council members unanimously voted to accept ABS’ recommendation and directed city staff to return with options for demolition, reconstruction, cost estimates, and a timeline.
Transparency Debate Erupts
Before the meeting, the council met in closed session to discuss the city’s lawsuit against Brawley. That secrecy drew criticism from Council member Shaun McMillan, who said the public deserves a fuller accounting of what went wrong.
McMillan took office in December.
“I would urge us to get things out of private session and out into the public,” McMillan said. “I think it’s time to be transparent, fully transparent with the public about what has happened with this project… not only what’s going wrong with this project, but how we get to success.”
Mayor Mitch Colvin pushed back, arguing that Moore’s detailed presentation already represented significant transparency.
“I think him giving this detailed report on the good, bad, ugly, is as transparent as you can get,” Colvin said.
McMillan replied: “Unfortunately, there’s more.”
Construction on Fire Station 4 began in August 2022 and was supposed to be completed in 2023. Instead, work stalled in late 2024 after the city terminated its $9.4 million contract with Brawley. By then, Fayetteville had already spent $4.3 million.
The city sued Brawley on Sept. 15, 2024, alleging the contractor’s “mismanagement” caused “repeated and nearly continuous delays.” Brawley countersued weeks later, arguing the city—not the contractor—breached the agreement by providing a flawed design, failing to pay properly, and denying justified time extensions.
The litigation is ongoing.
Brawley did not respond to a request for comment Thursday. In an earlier email to CityView, company president Jon Gore defended the firm’s work and argued against demolition, saying “tearing down the building would be a substantial waste of taxpayer funds and is woefully premature.”
Consultant Clears Architect, Inspectors, and City of Blame
Council member Derrick Thompson asked Moore to explain why ABS attributed the failures solely to the contractor and not to the project’s design or oversight.
Moore said the problems were rooted in execution, not design.
He listed multiple issues such as improper roof panel seams, unsupported insulation, unsealed roof‑to‑wall gaps, a concrete slab poured thinner than code requires, and plumbing installed with the wrong material.
“Those things are 100% attributable to the contractor,” he said.
Moore also said Stewart‑Cooper‑Newell Architects, which visited the site monthly, and Froehling & Robertson, the special‑inspections firm, were not responsible for the failures. Their roles were limited, he said, and neither had authority over the contractor’s daily work.
He added that the city manager, city attorney, fire chief, and other staff were not responsible for the construction problems. “They were certainly involved and monitored the project and took actions as needed and warranted,” Moore said.
Council member Lynne Greene emphasized that the city did attempt to maintain oversight.
“There was a third‑party oversight on this job,” she said. “They met, they said ‘we’ll fix it,’” she added, referring to the contractor. But once they would go back and review the work done by the contractor, they found it was not done right. “It was all kinds of crazy things.”
Council member Antonio Jones voiced sharper skepticism, questioning how the project advanced so far despite multiple inspections. “It’s difficult to understand how we reached this point with so many eyes on it,” he said. “This new information only raises further questions.”
Thompson said the council’s priority now is ensuring firefighters are never put at risk by a compromised building.
“We’re going to make sure we do everything that we keep our first responders,” he said. He added that he did not want it “to be on our conscience” if something went wrong years down the road.
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