Design and construction firm under pressure to declare bankruptcy

A group of creditors is trying to force Lancaster County-based Facilities Design & Construction Co. into Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

Three companies - Commonwealth Fire Protection Co., Cary Commercial Inc. and Witmer Restoration - filed a petition June 28 seeking the bankruptcy filing, according to documents submitted to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in Reading. In Chapter 7 bankruptcy, a company's assets are liquidated and a court-appointed trustee determines how much money creditors are paid.

The companies were subcontractors for Facilities Design & Construction and were not paid for work they did on a project, said John Kundrat. The Harrisburg attorney represents Cary Commercial, which does business as Davenport Fireproofing. He would not provide more details about the project.

In the petition, Leola-based Commonwealth Fire Protection says it is owed $188,567, Maryland-based Cary Commercial says it is owed $112,500, and Witmer Restoration of Mount Joy says it is owed $112,540. Facilities Design & Construction has not responded to the petition, Kundrat said.

Facilities Design & Construction has not had anyone on its payroll since the end of June, said David Sload, the company's former president. The four employees who were left at that time have found jobs elsewhere, he said.

"The construction company is not open for business,'' Sload said.

Facilities Design & Construction had revenue of $10 million in 2003, according to Business Journal records. But several factors hurt the business in recent years, Sload said. They included contracts that never materialized, rising insurance costs and struggles to collect payments from clients. Sload declined to comment on the future of the petition.

The 7,251-square-foot building that housed Facilities Design & Construction's offices in West Hempfield Township is for sale. The building has been on the market for about three months, said John Stockdale, who is marketing the property with Commercial Prime Properties in Manheim Township, Lancaster County.

The next step in the process is to determine what Facilities Design & Construction financial situation is, Kundrat said. It remains unclear whether the petitioners will get their money back, he said.

"We don't even know if (Facilities Design & Construction) has anything left to liquidate," Kundrat said.

More information about the company's finances should be available by early October, said Susan Peipher, a Lancaster attorney representing Commonwealth Fire Protection.