Obama Center Plumbing Contractor Shuts Down and Lays Off 25 Workers Amid Payment Dispute 

The Obama Presidential Center opened as a major new landmark on Chicago’s South Side. Less than a week later, one of the plumbing contractors that helped complete the campus shut down its own operations. 

Adamson Plumbing Contractors suspended business on June 25 and laid off 25 union employees, owner Mike Owen said. The company performed its work on the center under the name Marsh-Adamson.

Owen says project-related losses left the company without enough financial room to retain its workers or continue about six other construction jobs. Adamson has since filed a $1.72 million mechanic’s lien against the Obama Presidential Center property.

The lien is a legal claim alleging that compensation remains unpaid. It does not prove Adamson is entitled to the amount, establish wrongdoing, or mean the Obama Foundation has been found legally responsible for the company’s claimed losses. 

For the 25 employees who were released, however, the consequences are no longer theoretical. 

A Delayed Payment Became the Breaking Point 

Owen said Adamson’s final crisis developed during the last push before the center opened to the public on June 19. 

The company agreed to provide two journeyman plumbers for overnight work at premium rates. Owen said Adamson expected to receive a $100,000 retainage payment through its May payment application, but the money did not arrive before the opening

“Not getting that large sum of money just kind of pulled the brakes on the train,” Owen said. 

Six days after the center opened, Adamson suspended operations. Owen said he chose to stop rather than continue spending until the business entered bankruptcy. 

The $100,000 later arrived from Lakeside Alliance, along with approximately $35,000 tied to change orders. Owen said the payments came more than two weeks after the shutdown and helped reduce debt owed to a supplier, but they did not reverse the layoffs.

By then, Adamson had moved out of its building, released its workforce and stepped away from other projects. Owen said he was working from home as attorneys handled the dispute and he considered whether the company could eventually reopen. 

The Lien Is Smaller Than Owen’s Wider Loss Estimate 

Owen estimates that Adamson lost approximately $3.9 million over the course of its work on the center. 

That figure is the company’s calculation. It is not a court judgment or an independently established debt. 

Adamson’s original bid was about $6.9 million, according to reporting reviewed by FactCheck.org. Owen said delays, additional assignments and project changes increased the value of the company’s work to approximately $12 million.

He has also said Adamson submitted more than 100 change-order requests. Change orders generally address work outside an original agreement, but contractors and project managers can disagree about approval, pricing and responsibility for the added costs. 

Owen said the $1.72 million lien covers amounts the company believes it can most readily document, including unpaid fees, recorded change orders and labor overruns. He indicated that Adamson could still pursue its broader claimed losses through its legal team.

Filing the lien protects Adamson’s right to pursue the claim. It does not resolve the underlying disagreement or determine which party is legally responsible. 

Other Contractors Reported Unresolved Bills 

Adamson’s shutdown did not emerge in isolation. Before the June opening, Engineering News-Record reported that several union trade subcontractors were seeking payment for change orders and other work. Some were gathering information and considering liens or lawsuits.

Omar Shareef, president of the African American Contractors Association, told FactCheck.org that multiple subcontractors had approached his organization for assistance. Shareef described the outstanding invoices as “a disaster” for companies also facing supplier bills, loan obligations and normal operating expenses.

The experiences were not uniform across the approximately 475 subcontractors involved in the project. Some reports also identified a ventilation contractor whose representative said its financial closeout was proceeding normally.

That distinction matters. Available reporting shows that several companies have raised payment complaints, but it does not establish that every subcontractor went unpaid or suffered financial losses. 

The Obama Foundation Points to Lakeside Alliance 

The Obama Foundation says Lakeside Alliance had primary responsibility for hiring and managing the center’s subcontractors. 

The foundation told FactCheck.org that it has no direct legal agreements with those subcontractors and no outstanding disputed charges with Lakeside Alliance.

That means Adamson’s claim should not be described as a debt personally owed by former President Barack Obama. It also should not be presented as a court-established debt owed directly by the Obama Foundation. 

Lakeside Alliance is the center’s construction manager. The joint venture includes Turner Construction and Chicago-area firms Powers & Sons Construction, UJAMAA Construction, Brown & Momen and Safeway Construction.

Lakeside has said contractual closeout on a project of this size can continue after the doors open as invoices, change orders and other matters are reviewed. 

The construction manager said it remained committed to resolving outstanding issues and successfully closing out the project. Lakeside did not directly address Adamson’s specific allegations, the layoffs or the $1.72 million lien in the statement cited by Fox News Digital.

A South Side Landmark Meets a Local Business Dispute 

The Obama Presidential Center opened to the public on June 19 in Chicago’s Jackson Park. The 19.3-acre campus includes a museum, public gathering areas, athletic and recreation spaces, outdoor attractions and a Chicago Public Library branch.

The foundation promoted the development as an investment in Chicago’s South and West Side communities. It set goals of awarding 50% of subcontracting packages to diverse vendors and drawing 35% of the construction workforce from targeted South and West Side areas.\

Those local economic commitments give the contractor disputes broader significance. 

The center was intended to create opportunities for workers and businesses. Adamson’s owner says his company completed its responsibilities but finished the project with losses it could not absorb. 

Adamson is not minority-owned, as reported, although some of the other businesses involved in reported disputes are minority-owned.

Owen has also indicated that he remains proud of the completed building. His complaint concerns the financial outcome for his company, rather than the center’s existence or mission. 

For visitors, the campus now represents a completed cultural and civic project on Chicago’s South Side. For Adamson’s 25 former employees, its completion coincided with the loss of their jobs. 

The $1.72 million lien and Owen’s broader $3.9 million loss estimate remain unresolved. What can be confirmed is that Adamson suspended operations, released its workers and turned the dispute over to attorneys.