Temecula's EDGE Development Leaves OC School Project Mid-Way

A Temecula-based contractor building a new performing arts center at  is closing shop and has walked off the job, Patch has learned.

However, an insurance company has hired a new contractor and a spokesman for the Capistrano Unified School District said the theater will finish on time and on budget.

of Temecula won the and was expecting to complete the theater by late spring. It focuses much of its business on educational and governmental businesses.

But according to several published reports, the company is in the process shutting down after 23 years.

"While the original contractor may no longer be working on the project, the district’s surety company has already identified a completion contractor (SJ Amoroso) who will utilize the same project superintendent and subcontractors to ensure continuity and the theater’s completion," said Capo spokesman Marcus Walton.

As Engineering News-Record put it: “Contractor EDGE Development Goes Over Financial Cliff.”

On its website, EDGE lists the Capo Valley High 28,519-square-foot project as one of many currently underway. Among the others are a new concourse at the Long Beach Airport, a life sciences building at Irvine Valley College and a learning center in Murrieta for the Riverside County Office of Education. 

Engineering News-Record reports that for the airport, a bond company is now making payments for the $45 million project and a new contractor took over Aug. 21.

Said Capo's Walton: "This is not uncommon for public works projects, which is why the district has insurance and a strong construction manager." 

According to an agenda packet for the Capo Board of Trustees, the school project also has a “bid bond.” However, no information was provided about the provider.

Patch asked a spokeswoman for Liberty Mutual Insurance, who holds the bond on the airport project, if the company also covers the theater project.

"We are actively investigating and addressing this matter, and as such we are not in a position to comment at this time," said Adrianne L. Kaufmann, public relations consultant for Liberty Mutual. 

Earlier, The Riverside Press-Enterprise reported that EDGE would be finishing out all of its current projects. 

EDGE officials have confirmed the company’s impending closure, but have not elaborated in press reports as to the reasons.

When contacted Thursday morning, an employee who answered the main phone said "essentially" only the accounting department remains in operation.

EDGE's work has been wide-reaching. It was the contractor for and numerous other local projects such as Murrieta Mesa High School and Dorothy McElhinney Middle School, as well as the renovation project for Cal State San Marcos Temecula. Among many other educational and civic jobs, EDGE also completed new buidlings at Palomar College, UCI and UCR.