When the university decided to demolish Ogg Hall at the end of the 2006-07 school year, most people thought it was a good idea. In fact, the administration probably could have made money by charging alumni and students alike $5 to take a swing at that concrete cathedral that saw too many write-ups and had too few hot showers.
But instead of using the building as an outlet for the collective angst of the student body, the university decided to hire “professionals” to take care of the demolition. However, by March 2008, it became apparent Dore & Associates were not really professionals, rather a bunch of dudes from Michigan masquerading as construction workers.
Taking action accordingly, the Wisconsin Department of Administration decided to terminate the contract last spring. The move cost the company $1.7 million, at least according to the motion they filed with the State Claims Board.
It seems Dore & Associates have taken issue with being fired due to safety concerns. While we fully support lighting cigarettes with blowtorches and holding target practice with nail guns (Something we do, not them), we acknowledge there is a fine line between good-natured Happy Gilmore-inspired hi-jinks and full-fledged Tim the Toolman Taylor-style skullduggery. Dropping a cement block on a car falls under the latter category (Yes, they actually did this.).
This isn’t Boston; dropping concrete on shit (read: anything not in a dumpster) is frowned upon. Moreover, the building was supposed to be demolished floor-by-floor (recycling! woot!), making the process by which the offending piece of rubble ended up on a worker’s car even more confusing. Nor was this the only problem.
Although the SCB made its decision Wednesday, the board won’t be releasing it until Dec. 22, so we’ll have to wait until then to find out whether or not Dore will be suing the state. As riveting as such a trial could be, we think the company has little claim to the $1.7 million. There may not have been an explicit clause prohibiting dropping debris on nearby vehicles, but that kind of thing is usually implied. So please, don’t waste the state’s time with a lawsuit, just slink back across the lake to your 1-7 conference record.