Federal remodel flop: Sewage leak latest problem in late, over-budget courthouse contraction

CHICAGO — In the downtown Chicago courthouse where a governor, mobsters and other miscreants have stood trial, a simple renovation project on the building’s 24^th floor has taken on a legend of its own.

“This was literally about knocking down walls and rebuilding them to spec,” said former chief deputy U.S. Marshal Jason Wojdylo. “The fact it’s taken six years to do this speaks volumes about the mismanagement of GSA officials.”

Wojdylo ran the U.S. Marshal’s Chicago office in 2018 when Congress allocated $15 millions to renovate a floor used to hold inmates on days they’re in court at the Dirksen Federal Building.  The project called for a new lock-up facility as well as workspace. Since then, the cost of the project has reached $21.3 million and still isn’t finished. 

Prisoners were held in the new cells earlier this year until pipes ruptured sending water and sewage into court facilities on the floor below.  

“The Court has expressed concerns about the workmanship and is frustrated and disappointed by the length of time it has taken the GSA’s contractors to complete this work,” said Thomas Bruton, Clerk of Court for the Northern District of Illinois. 

The current U.S. Marshal in Chicago, LaDon Reynolds, tells WGN Investigates the space is currently only fifty percent occupied.

Judges are so fed-up they’ve urged the General Services Administration, which acts as the landlord of federal property, to consider seeking damages from the contractor.  A third-party inspector’s report documented several deficiencies in the work, Bruton said. 

“The Court now awaits a plan of correction to address these significant concerns—for a project that in our estimation should have been properly completed years ago,” he said.

The GSA has blamed everything from Covid-19 to supply chain issues for the delays.

The federal contractor, Frederick Quinn Corporation of suburban Addison, said some cost escalations were triggered by change orders authorized by the government. 

FQC President Jack Hayes provided this statement in response to an inquiry from WGN Investigates:

“FQC was contracted by GSA for the Dirksen 24^th Floor project in December 2019 for preconstruction and construction services. Work was authorized to begin on a limited basis in 2020, following being shut down and impacted due to COVID. All Owner Change Requests are processed as directed by the GSA and are related to added scope of work and differing existing conditions.  These changes came with appropriate and approved contract modifications and extensions to the initial contract schedule. The first completed phase of the project was inspected by the GSA’s consulting engineers and consultants, accepted and occupied by the Government, on time in the fall of 2023, per the approved schedule. The accepted area includes the completed plumbing work now subject to a third party plumbing inspection. Any items found to be non-compliant will be covered and addressed as a warranty item.”

A spokesperson for the General Services Administration said a new completion date for the renovation work has not been established.  

The U.S. Marshal in Chicago said: “We look forward to occupying a fully code-compliant, accessible, and upgraded space built to the contracted specifications.”

Wojdylo said he’s frustrated by the lack of accountability for delays and cost increases, six years after the project was first envisioned. 

“It’s because it’s not their money,” he said. “It’s taxpayer dollars.”