Black builder claims unfair treatment at Obama Center project

Daily Report February 02,2025


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A subcontractor involved in the Obama Presidential Center’s construction has filed a $40 million lawsuit against Thornton Tomasetti, alleging racial discrimination and unfair practices that pushed the firm toward financial ruin.

II in One, owned by Robert McGee, provided concrete and rebar services for the $830 million project beginning in 2021. The lawsuit, filed in federal court, claims Thornton Tomasetti, the New York-based structural engineering firm, implemented stricter standards and new regulations for rebar spacing that deviated from American Concrete Institute guidelines.

These modifications allegedly led to excessive inspections and documentation requirements, severely impacting the company’s productivity and resulting in substantial financial losses.

In response to these allegations, Thornton Tomasetti issued a memo disputing the claims, suggesting that the subcontractors were inadequately qualified and that their own deficiencies caused the delays.

The center, situated near Chicago’s Jackson Park, will feature a museum, library, and various community facilities. It will house the Obama Foundation, which manages the center’s development and runs a scholarship program through the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy.

According to McGee, Thornton Tomasetti unfairly questioned II in One’s qualifications while treating non-minority-owned contractors more favorably. The lawsuit seeks reimbursement for approximately $40 million in construction expenses incurred by II in One and its partner, Concrete Collective.

“In a shocking and disheartening turn of events, the African American owner of a local construction company finds himself and his company on the brink of forced closure because of racial discrimination by the structural engineer,” the lawsuit reads.

“II in One and its joint venture partners… was subjected to baseless criticisms and defamatory and discriminatory accusations by the Obama Foundation’s structural engineer, Thornton Tomasetti.”

Thornton Tomasetti’s February 2024 memo counters these claims, attributing construction delays and expenses to the subcontractor’s inexperience and poor performance. The firm states it devoted hundreds of hours addressing corrective work and maintains that concrete-related issues stemmed from contractor inadequacies.

“We cannot stand by while contractors attempt to blame their own shortcomings on the design team,” the memo states.

The memo continues, noting that Thornton Tomasetti and an architectural firm “bent over backwards to assist what everyone knows was a questionably qualified subcontractor team in areas where more qualified subcontractor would not have required it.”

The project has encountered various obstacles since its inception. Originally planned to commence in 2018, construction was delayed until 2021, with completion now expected in 2026.

Local residents have expressed concerns about potential gentrification, while environmental advocates worry about the impact on trees and wildlife habitats. Although activists attempted legal action to halt development, their efforts were unsuccessful when the Supreme Court declined to hear the case in 2021.

Former President Obama has emphasized the center’s potential benefits for Chicago’s South Side. During the 2021 groundbreaking ceremony, he addressed environmental concerns, promising new tree plantings and wildlife habitat creation.

Attempts to obtain comments from the Obama Foundation, Thornton Tomasetti, and II in One were unsuccessful prior to publication.

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