Judge in Harmon case refuses to allow attorneys to place blame

The Harmon at CityCenter in Las Vegas on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2011.

A judge Tuesday refused to let attorneys stray into side issues as she weighs whether the Harmon hotel tower on the Las Vegas Strip can be demolished.

During Day Two of four days of planned hearings on CityCenter’s extraordinary request that the never-used, $279 million tower be imploded because of safety concerns and construction defects, Clark County District Court Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez repeatedly advised attorneys to stick to the issues at hand.

The only issues on the table now, Gonzalez said, are whether the parties litigating over the defects at the 26-story building have conducted adequate discovery, observation and investigation of the building; and if there are imminent safety issues there.

''I'm not going to make a decision as part of this hearing as to whether there were any errors in the design of the building, or whether there were any problems in the construction of the building,” Gonzalez told an attorney for Harmon general contractor Perini Building Co.

The judge’s reminder about the scope of this week’s hearing came as the attorney questioned Chukwuma Ekwueme, an engineer hired by CityCenter who has testified that the Harmon could collapse in an earthquake or fire because of construction defects there.

The Harmon - Oct. 2011

The Harmon at CityCenter in Las Vegas on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2011. Launch slideshow »

Attorneys tried to get Ekwueme to acknowledge some of the problems at the Harmon were caused by CityCenter design errors, but Ekwueme insisted his analysis of the defects at the Harmon was based on its as-built condition, not its as-designed condition.

They also challenged his analysis about which structural components are likely to fail during an earthquake, but Ekwueme insisted his conclusions are sound and are based on commonly used engineering analysis techniques.

Gonzalez, in the meantime, questioned Ekwueme about which structural components at the Harmon had been analyzed by Perini and which had been analyzed by his engineering firm at CityCenter’s request. That’s an indication the judge is paying close attention to whether the parties have adequately analyzed the building and the construction defects there.

Regardless of whether the judge allows the Harmon to be imploded, a larger trial is set for next year on who’s responsible for the defects.

That trial — unless the case is settled — also would resolve whether CityCenter owes the contractors anything for their work and whether the contractors owe CityCenter anything for their alleged failure to deliver a building that could be used to generate revenue for CityCenter.

Testimony so far indicates construction defects at the Harmon relate to structural steel that’s supposed to be embedded in concrete walls, beams and columns.

In many cases, the steel is missing or was improperly installed, testimony shows.

CityCenter is half owned and managed by casino-resort giant MGM Resorts International.

Testimony in the hearing is set to resume Wednesday, with Perini expected to continue arguing the tower can be repaired.

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