The veteran owner of a Chicago plumbing firm says unpaid bills from work on the new Obama Presidential Center forced him to halt operations and lay off 25 union workers, triggering a legal fight and sharp criticism of project management. He filed a $1.72 million mechanic’s lien while insisting the true hit to his company was closer to $3.9 million. The dispute spotlights questions about how large cultural projects handle subcontractor payments and who answers for the damage when small businesses get squeezed.
Mike Owen, who ran Adamson Plumbing Contractors under the Marsh-Adamson name on the project, says the mounting losses left him no practical choice. He says the company walked away from several other jobs and shut down to avoid total bankruptcy, a move he calls painful but necessary. “Laying off close to 30 people is something that no owner in our industry wants to do,” he said.
Owen describes a last-minute arrangement to provide two journeyman plumbers for urgent night work in exchange for a portion of the overdue pay, a deal that never delivered on schedule. An email he reviewed promised $100,000 would be released through Adamson’s May payment application, and the crews did the work. “We negotiated it in good faith,” he said. “Against my better judgment, I agreed [to do the work].”
When that check didn’t arrive, Owen says it pulled the brakes on his operations and forced him to suspend work on June 25. “Not getting that large sum of money just kind of pulled the brakes on the train. It was just the final death blow to the company,” he said. Rather than limp forward toward bankruptcy, he chose to pause and regroup.
The company later received the promised $100,000 plus about $35,000 for change orders, but the funds showed up after the layoffs and after the shutdown. “It’s almost like too little, too late,” Owen said. He says those payments reduced one supplier balance but did not undo the damage or reopen the shop.
Marsh-Adamson’s mechanic’s lien names the property and claims $1.72 million remains unpaid for plumbing work, change orders and labor overruns backed by company records. Owen says that amount is the portion he could document cleanly, not the full tally of what he believes the project cost his firm. “I’m still working with my legal team on that $3.9 million figure because I feel that it’s only right that we still hold ownership at the presidential center accountable,” he said.
Owen says he avoided litigation while trying to negotiate, but he felt the legal route became unavoidable. “I’m not a litigious person, but at the same time, our legal system is there to protect the small guy,” he said. The lien is now in place while attorneys sort through what comes next, and Owen says last week’s payment will be deducted from the lien amount.
The construction manager on the project, Lakeside Alliance, is a joint venture led by Turner Construction and several Black-owned Chicago firms. Lakeside has noted that complex projects require extended contractual closeout work after doors open and says it remains committed to resolving outstanding issues, but it did not directly respond to Owen’s specific allegations in the public statement.
The Obama Foundation said Lakeside handled contractor payments and that the foundation has no disputed charges with the alliance, pointing out a fast 15-day payment policy meant to help subcontractors. Still, questions linger: costs on the project rose dramatically from early estimates, and promised safeguards for taxpayers have not materialized to the degree critics expected. “This entire process really drained me out financially and emotionally,” Owen said.
Owen is blunt about the political and social optics, noting that the center’s star-studded opening felt disconnected from the struggles of those who built it. He criticized local leaders for not publicly addressing the layoffs and payment disputes, adding the reaction would differ if big-name donors were bruised instead. “But he hasn’t said anything publicly about the union companies at the presidential center getting stiffed,” Owen said.
Now working from home and having cleared out his building, Owen says his immediate focus is legal and practical survival while weighing whether Adamson has a future. He plans to keep speaking out and pursue remedies, even as he faces the wrenching prospect of seeking other work himself. “I mean, the only leverage I have now is just to continue speaking out and see where it goes,” he said.
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