Politics & Government

D.C. Receives $6 Million Settlement Following Georgetown Library Fire

The fire damaged the library in April 2007

The D.C. Attorney General's Office released the following statement on Friday:

District of Columbia Attorney General Irvin B. Nathan announced today that the District will receive $6 million in a settlement of litigation arising out of the April 30, 2007 fire that severely damaged the Georgetown Public Library.  The fire started while contractors were renovating the building, at 3260 R Street, N.W., on April 30, 2007.  During the fire, the second floor ceiling collapsed and water damage caused by the efforts to contain the blaze required replacing most of the Georgetown library’s books and other library materials.  

The settlement will reimburse the District for a substantial portion of the costs associated with rebuilding the library, which reopened in 2010.   Under the terms of the settlement agreement, the District will be paid $6 million by the insurance carriers for the general contractor, Dynamic Corp., and the subcontractor, Two Brothers Contracting, Inc.

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Following the fire and after assessing the damage, the District of Columbia Public Library decided to rebuild the structure and to include many enhancements to improve service.  Extensive upgrades were included in the renovation, including construction of an additional floor. The District did not seek recovery of funds for the upgrades and modernization efforts.

The settlement is the result of civil actions litigated by the District in both the Contract Appeals Board and the Superior Court for the District of Columbia. The Office of the Attorney General was prepared to go to trial, but agreed to the settlement to avoid the costs and uncertainty of pursuing civil litigation further, and to allow the parties to put this incident from nearly five years ago behind them.  The funds will go to the general treasury of the District.  Attorney General Nathan commended the lawyers in OAG for their hard work on these cases. He called the outcome “a substantial restitution for District of Columbia citizens after this unfortunate destruction of valuable historic public property.”

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