Multi-million pound settlement ends Kent County Council's Margate gallery battle
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by Paul Francis
A payment of £6m has brought to an end a legal dispute between
Kent County Council and architects behind the
original plan for the Turner Contemporary gallery in
Margate.
The dispute involved KCC, Snohetta AS, Davis Langdon LLP and
Ramboll UK Limited and resulted in court proceedings said to have
cost the county more than £600,000.
A statement from KCC said that the dispute concerned the
original plans for the gallery on the town's seafront, and its
design, engineering advice, costs, project management and the
intended construction.
The settlement was received without any admissions of liability
and ended the prospect of a court case that was scheduled to
take place next month.
Relief at County Hall - read Paul's blog
on this story here>>>
The original plans for the gallery were abandoned in February
2006 after projected costs soared to more than £50m.
Among the more controversial sides to the plan was the proposal
to site the gallery in the sea itself, next to the sea wall (see
image above).
KCC had iincurred costs of more than £640,000 on legal fees
in its battle for recompense.
Cllr Mike Hill (Con), KCC's cabinet member for communities,
said: "We are pleased to say we have settled this and we are
now moving ahead and concentrating all our efforts on the new
building."
Work on the new version of the £17.4million scheme, which
has been designed by David Chipperfield, is underway on the
site. The gallery is scheduled to open in 2011.
In a statement, KCC said:
"The parties are pleased to say that they have
reached a settlement of the dispute without any admissions as to
liability and that the court proceedings have been brought to an
end by way of a payment to Kent County Council of £6 million
inclusive of interest and costs."
Tuesday, October 20 2009
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