Staff Reports
A new on‑the‑record interview with Mike Owen, owner of Adamson Plumbing Contractors, lays bare what can happen when a giant civic project goes sideways. Owen says his company — doing business on the job as Marsh‑Adamson — suspended operations, laid off 25 union workers, and filed a $1.72 million mechanic’s lien after what he calls months of unpaid bills and changing demands tied to the Obama Presidential Center. That claim lands squarely on project management and raises hard questions about accountability for subcontractors and workers.
What the subcontractor says: losses, layoffs and a lien
Owen told reporters Adamson performed about $12 million in work after bidding near $6.9 million and that the job left his company roughly $3.9 million in the red. He said he was promised a $100,000 retainage payment for last‑minute overnight work before the Center opened. The journeyman plumbers showed up, the work was done, but the money did not arrive in time. Soon after, Adamson suspended operations and laid off 25 people. Owen said, “Laying off close to 30 people is something that no owner in our industry wants to do… But we were put in a pretty bad corner.”
Payments came too late — and only part of what was claimed
Industry reporting confirms Lakeside Alliance later sent the $100,000 and roughly $35,000 for change orders — but only after Adamson shut down. Owen filed a $1.72 million mechanic’s lien against the Center’s property for amounts he said he could document immediately. That lien figure is smaller than his total claimed losses, but it is a public, legal step a subcontractor takes when it feels shortchanged. For small contractors, late money can mean the difference between payroll and bankruptcy. For large projects, late money often just becomes another line item.
A broader pattern of unpaid invoices and project trouble
Adamson’s account is not unique. Multiple subcontractors on the project have raised concerns about unpaid invoices, change orders and slow closeout. Trade press and filings show liens, lawsuits and even past bankruptcies tied to related work. The Obama Foundation has said it paid Lakeside Alliance and has no direct contracts with subcontractors; Lakeside says contractual closeout and invoice resolution on a job this big “continues long after the doors open.” Translation: the blame game is active and the invoices keep piling up.
Accountability is the missing line item
This is not just bad bookkeeping. It is real people losing jobs and small businesses teetering because payments got tangled in the paperwork of a prestige project. A foundation built on the idea of economic empowerment should not shrug when a subcontractor says the job pushed his company to the edge. If the Obama Presidential Center was worth celebrating on opening day, it should be worth settling accounts the same way — quickly and fairly. The public deserves transparency: pull the Cook County lien records, show the change‑order logs, and let those documents tell the full story rather than press releases and delay language. Until then, this saga will read like a cautionary tale about how big projects can swallow small firms — and taxpayers should not have to foot the bill for managerial failures.
