The Tennessee Supreme Court has declined to take up the case in which the Tennessee Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that the city of Chattanooga waited too long to file suit to try to gain compensation for the millions of dollars it has had to spend to correct problems at the 21st Century Waterfront.
The Supreme Court turned down the appeal in a one-sentence order.
At the Court of Appeals, Judge John McClarty wrote the majority opinion and he was joined by Judge Charles Susano. Judge Herschel Franks had a dissenting opinion.
Circuit Court Judge Jackie Bolton in March 2010 said that the city of Chattanooga knew about problems at the 21st Century Waterfront as early as May 2005, but waited almost four years to file suit.
She said all parties in the lawsuit agree that the applicable statute of limitations is three years on construction defects.
Judge Bolton dismissed the lawsuit against the River City Company, Continental Construction, Hargreaves and Associates and others involved in the $120 million project.
The city has already spent $1.5 million to fix major problems at The Passage portion of the waterfront attraction. It is facing up to $8 million in repairs to the "hard edge" portion along the riverfront at Ross's Landing Park. That work is slated to start early next year.
Defendant attorneys include Marc H. Harwell and Benjamin T. Reese, Hoyt Samples for NABCO Electric Company, Bill Colvin for Masonry Specialist Corp. and Al Henry for the River City Company.