The City of Moncton claims it’s owed $1.1 million by an architecture firm over problems during construction of the Resurgo Place museum, court records show.

The tangled dispute alleges structural steel was improperly installed along the sloped face of the Transportation Discovery Centre, now called Resurgo Place.

The front of the building on Mountain Road was designed to look like a train cowcatcher, used to push animals off the railway tracks, in an allusion to Moncton’s railroad history.

The city claims Architecture 2000 Inc., which designed the cowcatcher and later became part of Stantec Architecture Ltd., should have caught the misalignment of the steel holding up the cowcatcher and brought it to the city’s attention before further phases of construction.

“The structural steel was severely misaligned,” the claim states.

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The issue, the city alleges, caused delays in the design, fabrication and installation of the cowcatcher. That caused cost-overruns. 

The companies deny the city’s allegations, which have not been proven in court.

Kenneth McCullogh, the lawyer representing Architecture 2000 and Stantec, declined to comment. Stantec declined to comment while the case is in court.

The city referred questions to its lawyer, Peter Zed, who did not agree to an interview Wednesday.

The museum expansion was designed to showcase the role of the transportation sector in shaping the city’s history.

The 1,170-square-metre centre features exhibition galleries, an interactive exhibit on all modes of transportation, an education centre, a gift shop and an interior public plaza with the 1916 sandstone facade of the former Moncton city hall.

But it has been a troubled project.

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