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Town of Breckenridge wins lawsuit against police station architects

ROBERT ALLEN
summit daily news

BRECKENRIDGE – The Town of Breckenridge recently won a civil lawsuit against a Denver-based architecture firm for breach of contract regarding design defects.

Gifford Spurck Associates, which designed the police station at 150 Valley Brook Road, is expected to pay $504,000 in damages related to the town’s concerns.

“We’re disappointed in the outcome,” said Benton Barton, attorney for the architects, who added that his clients are “considering appealing at least part of it.”



The town issued a statement Thursday regarding the jury decision issued Dec. 24 after an eight-day trial in Summit County District Court.

“… The town invested significant funds in designing and building this new facility, expecting it to serve the needs of Breckenridge for the next 25-30 years. This award will help us correct some of the problems,” according to town manager Tim Gagen in the statement.



Barton said his party respects the jury’s decision on a complicated case – which he said involved expert witnesses with discrepant conclusions.

Design concerns addressed in the trial included the building’s size and price, parking lot layout, placement of windows and more, he said.

“Our perspective was they felt like they were getting mixed signals from different people (with) the town about what they wanted and about what they ended up getting,” Barton said.

The police station project was estimated to cost about $3.75 million, according to a previous report in the Summit Daily.

“… Shortly after the police moved into this new facility in the fall of 2006, there were several defects found that were attributed to architectural design errors…” according to Gagen’s statement.

Robert Allen can be contacted at (970) 668-4628 or rallen@summitdaily.com.


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