The half-built veterans hospital in Aurora has become a sad monument to government incompetence.
Shame on the Veterans Administration for letting its bullheadedness and years of mismanagement put the completion of this important facility in jeopardy.
When the lead contractors on the massive construction project declared Tuesday that they were after prevailing in a contract dispute before a board of appeals, it was hard to blame them.
Now, however, it is imperative for the government to craft a new deal to keep Kiewit-Turner and its 1,400 employees on the job.
It’s clear that the project, which has ballooned from an original pricetag of $604 million to about $1 billion, will require more resources. KT has been saying for years that the VA’s ideas for the new facility far outstripped its budget.
To the extent still possible, the design — and the cost — must be scaled down.
We were glad to see Wednesday that the VA has agreed to let the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers oversee construction on the project, as fresh government management is clearly needed.
Money, however, is the bigger issue. While the gap between available resources and the final pricetag has not been nailed down, it’s almost certainly large.
Colorado’s congressional delegation, and in particular Sen. Michael Bennet and Reps. Mike Coffman and Ed Perlmutter, deserve credit for pushing the VA to find additional funding.
The possibilities include a contingency fund for adverse judgments, additional congressional appropriations and finding money within the VA’s existing budget.
It’s imperative that the money and a new contract be firmed up quickly so that construction momentum isn’t lost. The problems surrounding this project have gone on for far too long — at the expense of veterans’ treatment.
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