Jefferson City general contractor J.C. Industries Inc., apparently is going out of business, leaving at least two major projects unfinished.
J.C. Industries performed building services such as commercial buildings, schools, churches, roads and bridges, and water and sewer projects, including notable projects like the Jefferson City Animal Shelter construction, Pioneer Trail Elementary School construction, 2008 Adkins Stadium renovation and Southwest Early Childhood Center building addition. Father and son Harry and Roger Adrian founded the company, headquartered at 3208 Route C, in 1978, according to its website.
The contractor employed approximately 75 permanent employees, the website says.
Representatives of J.C. Industries did not respond to requests for comment.
J.C. Industries was in the middle of work on a sewer upgrade for Jefferson City when it closed. Started last summer and scheduled to progress alongside the road work at the U.S. 50/Lafayette Street interchange, the replacement of a large-diameter sewer main underneath the new interchange was scheduled for completion this May.
"We have a $1.5 million project here and roughly a half million dollars or so of work left to do, and our project's sitting there not finished," said Matt Morasch, Jefferson City public works director. "Obviously that affects the adjacent property owners and the citizens."
City projects are underwritten by a bonding agent, who is responsible for working with any subcontractors to secure a new contractor to finish the project. That means the city will not be responsible for any costs more than the bid agreed upon with J.C. Industries, and the bonding agent will accrue penalties if the new contractor cannot complete the project on schedule.
"They're in the process of hiring someone to finish that project, another contractor. At this point we're awaiting who that will be," Morasch said. "We're not in danger of holding up the interchange project by any means; we're on the other side of Dunklin with our main now."
Also left hanging was the Columbia Public School District, whose Lange Elementary kitchen expansion was being constructed by J.C. Industries. School district officials didn't know the contractor was going out of business until they realized no work was being performed.
"A couple of weeks ago, we noticed work really started to slow; there were just a handful of workers out there," said Michelle Baumstark, Columbia Public Schools community relations director. "At the beginning of last week, work stopped out there completely."
Like Jefferson City, the Columbia school district is protected by a bond surety company.
"It's really at this point more of a hassle that we have to secure another contractor to come in and complete the project," Baumstark said. "We're not out any money; we still think we'll be able to meet our timeline."
The Columbia school district has paid J.C. Industries $150,000 of the project's $1.8 million cost for work performed on the kitchen expansion, which is scheduled to be completed by the beginning of the 2015-16 school year.