Contractor ousted from
Rhawnhurst Rec project

By Lauren Fritsky
Times Staff Writer

After months of ongoing problems at the construction site of the Rhawnhurst Recreation and Northeast Older Adult centers, the city last week made a move to take Ernest Bock & Sons off the project.
A letter stating that Bock had defaulted on its contract due to its failure to respond to project-related issues was sent to the company on July 2, according to Rick Tustin, head of the city’s Capital Program Office.
The move required the company to immediately cease all work on the project, which began more than two years ago after more than 20 years of planning.
The decision to remove the company from the job came after months of delay attributed to problems ranging from union strikes to roof leaks.
"It was the last thing we wanted to do," Tustin said of Bock’s removal from the project.
But such drastic action became a possibility months ago, Tustin said. A setback involving incorrect roof materials popped up during the winter months. The spring brought a strike by the Sheet Metal Workers Local 19 over non-union labor. The centers’ late May opening date came and went with the project still struggling along.
Then in June, a leaking roof and unfitting windows pushed back the facilities’ debut once more. The city then claimed that Bock had been failing to properly submit shop drawings and approved invoices. The construction company argued that the city had not paid it for its work on time.
Through the duration of the project, senior citizens have remained in the cramped quarters of their current facility on the 7500 block of Castor Ave., and sports players have used the fields adjoining the site at Bustleton and Solly avenues.
Company president Tom Bock, who said he didn’t receive the city’s default letter until Thursday, doesn’t understand the harsh move and is prepared to file litigation if his company is removed from the job.
"I’m trying to get through this without litigation," Bock said. "I’m just tying to get it done. Every time we bring an issue to them, it’s our fault."
Besides the pay issue, Bock has blamed problems with the project on the city’s refusal to approve changes to faulty aspects of the facilities’ design.
Bock said the city could have issued a construction change directive, which he said would allow the company to proceed with the job as it sees fit, even if the city didn’t agree with some design alterations.
According to the city, roof repairs, window refitting and the installation of re-enforceable steel in walls adjoining a moveable wall remain to be done at the site.
Bock said that being removed from the Rhawnhurst job could disbar his company from doing city work for three years.
The well-known firm currently has other projects throughout the city, including a multimillion dollar job at Philadelphia International Airport, Holy Redeemer’s Villages at Pine Valley and Gambrel Field in Frankford, which will be part of the Fox television pilot Extreme Field Makeover, which began filming this week.
The next step the city plans to take involves meeting next week with bonding company Excel Specialty, which will decide whether to keep Bock on the job or find another construction company to complete it. Tustin, the city budget head, said the project’s completion date depends on the new timeline set forth by Excel.
Tustin said Excel could put Bock back on the job but that the city also has the right of approval, meaning that it can decline the company’s reappointment.
"If we feel that the contractor isn’t going to work in good faith, we have a right to say to them, ‘No we don’t want him back on the job,’" Tustin said. "We don’t know whether that will happen.
"We’re going to keep an open mind. We want to get the job done right and as quick as possible." ••
Reporter Lauren Fritsky can be reached at 215-354-3038 or lfritsky@phillynews.com