The 30-day pause on construction of the Cumberland County Crown Event Center in downtown Fayetteville stems from a $1.9 million “additional architect’s fee” from the EwingCole architecture firm.
That is specified in a legal representation agreement, signed March 5, between the Hutchens Law Firm of Fayetteville and the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners. The commissioners voted on March 5 to “suspend all work on the Crown Event project for no more than 30 days for the purpose of reviewing and also investigating the scope, schedule and the financial budget for this particular project.”
The legal agreement with the county, written by partner J. Scott Flowers of the Hutchens firm, says the firm will:
- Investigate the $1.9 million fee.
- Advise the commissioners on how to resolve the claim and its potential effect on the cost of the Event Center.
- Represent the county if legal matters arise from the claim.
- Pursue legal claims against EwingCole or others, if necessary, based on the results of the investigation.
The 30-day pause ends on April 4, this coming Friday. The next meeting of the County Board of Commissioners is April 7.
“We’ll hear back from Mr. Flowers, and then I’ll come back and give an update to the community on where we are,” Commissioners Chair Kirk deViere said on Thursday.
Initial contract was $6.44 million
EwingCole is an architectural, engineering, interior design and planning firm, its LinkedIn page says. It is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and has offices in 10 other cities across the country, including Raleigh and Charlotte.
The county contracted EwingCole in November 2022 for $6.44 million to design the Event Center, The Fayetteville Observer reported at the time.
The county has paid $5.84 million so far in architectural expenses, county Finance Director and Chief Financial Officer Robin Deaver said on Friday.
EwingCole has not responded to requests for comment from CityView.
The county broke ground on the Crown Event Center this past October. The 134,000-square-foot performing arts venue on Gillespie Street is to have 3,000 seats. It is to replace two old entertainment facilities, the Crown Theatre and Crown Arena on the campus of the Crown Complex off U.S. 301 and Owen Drive. (The project does not affect the Crown Coliseum, which opened in the 1990s.)
Construction firms T.A. Loving and Metcon Construction have been doing the initial sitework and demolition. That work stopped with the county commissioners’ March 5 decision to pause the project.
“On behalf of the T.A. Loving/Metcon Joint Venture, we are disappointed to learn that the project has been officially paused. We’re unaware of the reason behind those decisions and it would be wrong to comment further. We remain hopeful that the project will move forward soon,” David Philyaw of T.A. Loving told television station ABC11 shortly after the commissioners’ decision.
Rising price and sunk costs
This is not the first time that the county commissioners dealt with higher than expected costs for the Event Center.
In January 2024, the project manager told the commissioners that the previously estimated price, $131.7 million, had grown to $163.5 million. The commissioners rejected that estimate. They ordered a redesign and put a cap of $145 million on the project.
With the project underway, the county has spent almost $11.1 million so far on the project, according to figures from Finance Director Deaver. Deaver said additional requests for payment totaling $420,000 are being processed.
Deaver’s figures show the $11.1 million includes the $5.84 million paid for architectural work.
Senior reporter Paul Woolverton can be reached at pwoolverton@cityviewnc.com.
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