HHS Field House Project At Standstill

If the project had gone according to the game plan, Hernando High School would have its new locker room and field house by now.

But the firm the school district hired for the job is in disarray, and now the district has terminated the contract.

The school board on Tuesday night voted unanimously to bail on its agreement for New Century Structures Inc., or NCSI, for breach of contract.

The Orlando firm specializing in prefabricated concrete structures should have had the locker room and field house in place by now, said Bo Bavota, facilities director for the school district.

Plans call for locker rooms, showers and coaches office, to be built on the site of the former Jerome Brown Building next to the school's stadium. The total contract, approved last February, was for $279,000.

The concrete structures should have been delivered by mid-November. But about that time, the school district received notice from an attorney saying the former and current officers of NCSI were involved in litigation against each other and the district was told to hold payment of funds for the project.

"I just know there's a real struggle between the principals over ownership of the company," Bavota said.

Two numbers listed for NCSI have been disconnected. The company's Web site also has been taken down.

Bavota said the district had made an initial payment to NCSI of about $80,000 and has made no other payments. Fortunately, Bavota said, that money went to Force 5 Structures, a modular building manufacturer based in Arcadia and the subcontractor that NCSI was using for the Hernando High project.

The plan now is to deal directly with Force Five to get the project done, Bavota said. That could happen within six weeks, he said.