`west Side Story' Still A Winner 
Musical Classic Hits All The Right Notes At The Scranton Cultural Center

3 Borough Employees To Get Safety Equipment

By DAVID J. RALIS; Times Leader Staff Writer
 Saturday, February 07, 1998 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 6A 





WILKES-BARRE- Officials from Oscar J. Boldt Construction Co., the
construction manager for the arena project, signed its contract with the arena
board Friday. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The contract, which the board approved 7-3 on Jan. 30, locks Boldt into
building the arena at a maximum cost of $34.7 million. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "I know you've had a long struggle, but we're real impressed with what
we've seen in the last two weeks," John Hale, a vice president in Boldt's
Milwaukee office, told authority members after signing the thick contract
several times. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The construction manager's job has been a point of contention among members
of the Luzerne County Convention Center Authority because the board awarded
the work to two companies several years ago, but never negotiated a contract
with them. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The short signing ceremony was held in the board room of the Greater
Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business and Industry. Kevin Blaum, chairman of the
arena board, called it one of the project's "three biggest days." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The next big day will be March 31, when the authority issues its bonds to
private investors in order to raise funds for the arena's construction, said
Blaum, who also is a Democratic state representative from Wilkes-Barre. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The biggest day, however, will occur Oct. 1, 1999- the target date for when
the arena in Wilkes-Barre Township will open to the public, he said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 A one-month cushion is built into the construction manager's contract to
make sure the arena opens on time. It requires the construction of the
building to be substantially complete by Aug. 31, 1999. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 One change has been added to the contract since the board approved it. The
alteration doubled the size of the daily fine on the construction manager and
contractors if they are late. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 For each day they go past the Aug. 31 deadline, they will have to pay the
authority $2,000, said John Moses, the board's solicitor. The contract
initially imposed a $1,000 per day penalty. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "We're just trying to get as much (security) as we possibly can," Blaum
said. "Boldt agreed with it." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Steve Roth, a senior program manager with Boldt, said, "We're confident
we'll meet that date." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Boldt has signed the project's labor agreement, which guarantees local
union workers will be used by all contractors, Blaum said. The unions ar

Arena Construction Firm Inks Deal With Board The Goal Of The $34.7 Million Project Is To Have The Arena Open To The Public By Oct. 1, 1999