A dispute over a jail construction project in Florida has taken a new turn as the Escambia County commissioners voted to terminate their contract with Whitesell-Green/Caddell for the $142 million project, nearly two years after the facility opened. Contractors say the COVID-19 and hurricane-related delays should be excusable, while the county says the work is still not legally completed.
The design-build contractor, a joint venture of Pensacola, Fla.-based Whitesell-Green Inc. and Montgomery, Ala.-based Caddell Construction Co., filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit in state court last year alleging the county still owed them about $3.5 million for work performed on the project. That suit is ongoing.