Construction on The Irish Cultural Center's Research Library Delayed After Death of General Contractor

Officials behind the scenes at the Irish Cultural Center announced today that the construction of its new research library will be delayed due to the recent death of a "key figure" involved in the project.Bernie Velez, the general contractor for the $3.5 million project, passed away after a heart attack...

By Benjamin Leatherman

September 1, 2011

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Officials behind the scenes at the Irish Cultural Center announced today that the construction of its new research library will be delayed due to the recent death of a "key figure" involved in the project.

Bernie Velez, the general contractor for the $3.5 million project, passed away after a heart attack in late July. According to architect Paul Ahern, who designed the research library, Velez's death is a "significant blow" to the building process and will "almost certainly cause a delay in construction" for a month or more.

"It's a very big impact, professionally-speaking, as he had a lot influence in the project," Ahern says. "We lost a better part of a month in the process of transitioning to a new general [contractor]."

Ahern says that Double AA Builders of Scottsdale will now oversee the project. The 15,000-square-foot research library, originally scheduled to be completed in January, will house more than 6,000 books and be used for those of Irish descent to research their genealogy.

While Ahern says that a revised timetable for the building's opening hasn't been determined, he's hoping that "the library will be substantially complete by Saint Patrick's Day" in time for the center's annual festival and parade.

"It won't be done by then, but it should look like a library," Ahern says.

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Benjamin Leatherman is a staff writer for Phoenix New Times where he focuses primarily on arts, culture, music, and nightlife. He began writing for New Times in 2003 and joined the staff full-time in 2005. Prior to that, he contributed to magazines such as Tips & Tricks and The Wrestler. Benjamin has earned multiple awards from the Arizona Press Club including an award for sports enterprise reporting in 2009 and an award for statewide arts reporting in 2014. He holds a bachelor’s of arts in journalism from Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Contact: Benjamin Leatherman

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