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SALT LAKE CITY -- The Odd Fellows building was set to be sitting in a new location Wednesday, but all work has now come to a halt; not because there's something wrong with the building, but because a subcontractor and his team walked off the job.
This iconic Salt Lake building was supposed to be sitting between the Melting Pot and the New Yorker this week. Instead, Odd Fellows Hall is stuck in limbo, about 11 feet in the air.
In fact, the lead construction company on the project, Layton Construction, says the building's essentially been "hijacked."
The company says their subcontractor, Emmert International, an Oregon-based company, walked off the project demanding more money to move the building.
Layton Construction officials say they have already paid Emmert International in full for work to get the building up and moved across Market Street.
Alan Rindlisbacher, with Layton Construction Company, said "The building is staged to move across Market Street, and that's when they chose to conveniently walk away and posture for the additional dollars, knowing they're holding us hostage."
Rindlisbacher says the project is being held hostage because all of Emmert International's equipment has been left behind and essentially in use.
All the risers underneath the building belong to Emmert, but the workers are all back in Oregon. So the building sits where it is until most likely attorneys get involved.
We did not get a chance to speak with anyone from Emmert International, but the company did e-mail us a statement from company President Terry Emmert. It says: "In the appropriate forum, at the appropriate time, the morality and legality of Layton's conduct will be decided. My only further comment to the information being reported in the news media is that my employees and I disagree with many of the factual assertions that are being reported as having come from Layton's employees."
So, Odd Fellows Hall won't move again until the two sides can hammer out a deal.
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Story compiled with contributions from Lori Prichard and Marc Giauque.
