Pact Reached on Arts Plaza Cooling System

The city will receive $794,000 by month’s end in a settlement reached with the four companies behind the Civic Arts Plaza’s failed cooling system, according to a settlement agreement obtained from the city.

The city--which remains in litigation with about 20 other contractors, materials suppliers, engineers and consultants involved with the facility’s construction--reached an agreement April 21 with the companies that designed, manufactured and installed the cooling system. The $86-million arts plaza opened in October 1994.

City officials, who filed the suit in July 1998, had originally asked for $1 million in damages from the four companies.

The cooling system was supposed to create ice at night that would melt during the day and cool the arts plaza during regular business hours, when electrical costs are normally higher. But the system didn’t manufacture enough ice, which increased the city’s electricity costs, said Bryan Garrie, a partner in the San Diego law firm of McGregor and Garrie, which is representing the city in the nearly $10-million lawsuit.

The cooling system was designed by the mechanical engineering group Nack & Sutherland in Los Angeles; manufactured by Carrier Corp., headquartered in Syracuse, N.Y.; and installed by Pan Pacific Plumbing and ACR Mechanical, both based in the Los Angeles area.