Bellevue School District hires expert construction attorney to investigate construction defects.

BELLEVUE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 11, 1995--The Bellevue School District announced today that it has retained David Ashbaugh, founding partner of Stanislaw Ashbaugh, to represent the district in handling the legal issues surrounding reported construction defects which are forcing the closure of Chinook Middle School.

The closure is in response to reports that the 35-year-old building is missing many of the structural supports it was supposed to include.

"When the school district began a planned seismic upgrade of the school earlier this year, it uncovered what looks to be potentially serious problems in the building's basic support structure," Ashbaugh said. "The school finds out that what was to be a $500,000 project could suddenly cost the taxpayers $5 million or more."

Ashbaugh noted that even more alarming than the cost is the risk of injury -- or even death -- to those in the school. "The tests conducted so far show that an earthquake could cause serious damage," he said. "Our primary concern has to be the safety of the children. With the information we have so far, I think it is prudent to shut the building down until we see exactly what is going on."

Ashbaugh noted that recovering damages from those responsible will be a challenging task. "Not only are we dealing with complex construction issues, we are also dealing with statutory limitations on liability that could come into play. Moreover, we will have to contend with people trying to remember details from a project completed 25 years ago," he noted.

"But the bottom line is that we are going to do our absolute best to get to the bottom of this problem," Ashbaugh said. "Citizens of Bellevue should not have to worry if their children's school building is safe, nor should they have to pay to fix problems caused by poor workmanship or design, no matter how long ago it was built."

Ashbaugh is one of the region's leading experts in construction defect issues. He and others at his firm, Stanislaw Ashbaugh, have handled similar issues of construction defects including the Kingdome, the King County Jail and Portland's Tri-Met Mall. His firm has also handled cases involving construction defects in other schools across the Pacific Northwest.

Ashbaugh also has an 11-year-old daughter who attends Chinook Middle School. -0-

Note to Editors: Mr. Ashbaugh is available for interviews concerning the Bellevue School construction defect issue. Contact Mark Firmani at 443-9357

CONTACT: Firmani and Associates

Mark Firmani, 203/443-9357