The contractor for the Senior Center/Fire Station project at 121 Avenida Victoria notified the City of San Clemente on June 18th that it is unable to complete its contractual obligations, the city announced today.

A bond company will step in to ensure the project’s completion, city officials said in a news release, but the project—which cost more than $4 million—is not expected to open in October as planned.

“While this is an unfortunate turn of events that will undoubtedly delay the planned October project completion, I assure the residents that this project remains a priority and that the construction will proceed expeditiously and responsibly,” Mayor Jim Dahl said in the release. “So many people have put forth a great deal of time and effort to get this project to where it is today for the betterment of our community and we will not let them down.”

In correspondence provided to the city, Mark Scarlatelli, president of Gamut Construction, Inc., announced the company’s voluntary default on the project but assured the city of his immediate efforts to mitigate downtime and facilitate a smooth transition with Gamut’s surety companies.

The project is bonded by Fidelity & Deposit Company of Maryland, which protects the city against the possibility of a contractor defaulting, while it provides the city assurance that the project will resume construction with as little downtime as possible. The bonding company has retained Perini Corporation to act as consultant to the surety in evaluating the overall project status. They have initiated steps to get the project moving forward and have coordinated a job walk-thru this week with the city’s staff project manager, the release said.