The roof of the $119 million Petersen Events Center needs to be replaced less than three years after the building opened, University of Pittsburgh officials confirmed yesterday.

John Beale, Post-Gazette The $119 million Petersen Events Center needs a roof replacement because of leaks that have developed since the building's completion three years ago. Pitt declined to say how much it will cost. Click photo for larger image. Previous series The money pit at Pitt: How the public was left in the dark about tens of millions of dollars in cost overruns at the University of Pittsburgh's Petersen Events Center, April 2004

A two-paragraph statement issued yesterday afternoon gave few details except to say work atop the 12,500-seat arena is needed "to correct problems with leaks that have developed since the center was completed in 2002."

The replacement will begin on or around June 20 and should be finished before the November start of the 2005-2006 basketball season, Pitt said. The center, built partly with state funds, hosts campus and other events including concerts, and is home to Pitt's men's and women's basketball teams.

Pitt spokesman Robert Hill declined to say how much the replacement will cost, what contractor will do the work or how Pitt will finance the job as it presses litigation seeking damages against the companies that did the original work.

Pitt's statement said it would not address aspects of the project that are at issue in the lawsuit.

"There will be a meeting of the property and facilities committee [of Pitt's trustees board] that will address the roof replacement," Hill said. "The property and facilities committee will act on a resolution authorizing the funds."

Hill said the meeting had not been scheduled as of yesterday and he did not know when it would occur. John Pelusi Jr., the facilities committee chairman, refused comment when reached by phone.

Scott Michaels, general manager of the Petersen Center, said he believes that events scheduled there this summer, including a July 28 Bruce Springsteen concert and youth basketball camps, would not be affected.

In December, Pitt and the state Department of General Services, which built the center, filed lawsuits in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court alleging the Petersen had leaks and structural flaws so bad the arena would need extensive repairs.

Defective architectural designs and bad workmanship, according to the lawsuits, have resulted in more than 200 holes in the roof, missing roof fasteners, pipe failures and heating and ventilation problems.

The accusations were aimed primarily at Apostolou/Rosser architects of Mount Washington and G&W Roofing & Construction of Eighty Four.

In one suit, Pitt accused Apostolou/Rosser of deficiencies that led to expensive repairs. The other lawsuit identified G&W Roofing and Morin Corp., a Connecticut firm that manufactured the aluminum roof. That suit cited Havens Steel Co. of Kansas City, Mo., but did not name that company as a defendant. Havens has filed for bankruptcy

An official of Apostolou could not be reached late yesterday, and an employee at G&W referred questions to the firm's attorney, who also was unavailable.

In February, Apostolou/Rosser responded to the lawsuits by alleging that Pitt and the state were responsible for the problems by repeatedly changing the project and rejecting proposals to trim costs while adding features that drove up the price. General Services "wanted the costs of the project to be reduced without eliminating items from the design," a goal, the firm says, that was "unattainable."

The claims and counterclaims were a continuation of disputes over the Petersen Center involving contractors, the state and the university.

The project itself was beset by delays and cost escalation.

In April 2004, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that the Petersen Center grew in price from $35 million when the arena was proposed in 1992 to $119 million when it opened. The taxpayers' share, after Pitt originally had promised to take no more than $13 million in public money, increased fivefold to $66 million.