The University rescinded an $18.6 million contract to Hardin Construction Co. for the expansion of Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall after a second structure built by Hardin collapsed in late June.

Hardin, which already held $19 million in contracts to build two parking decks on campus, was chosen to build part of the $40 million addition to Butts-Mehre, including training areas and coaches’ offices.

But just days after the June 29 collapse of the Centergy parking deck in Atlanta, Associate Athletic Director Arthur Johnson told Hardin Chairman Brantley Barrow that UGA was taking the offer off the table.

The story was first reported by the Atlanta Business Chronicle.

Following the collapse, the University sought two engineering firms to determine the structural integrity of the 10 decks on campus, and mainly the two four-level parking structures built by Hardin – a 488-space deck at the Intramural Fields and a 445-space deck at the Performing Arts Center – which are expected to be ready this fall

Hardin did foot the bill for the independent structural analysis of the two parking decks it is building on campus, said Hardin President Bill Pinto. Pinto told The Red & Black he has “no worries at all” about the structural integrity of the two decks.

The Board of Regents approved the leases with the 63-year-old company in April following the collapse of the Atlanta Botanical Garden pedestrian bridge last December, a structure for which Hardin was partly involved in construction. The collapse resulted in one fatality and 18 injuries.

Hardin and two other companies were recently fined for their part in the December incident, but Hardin plans to appeal its $6,300 fine, according to an Associated Press report.

The decision to use Hardin Construction Company for the contract came not long after Barrow was appointed to the Alumni Board of Directors of the Terry College of Business in October 2007. It was two months before the University decided to go with Hardin for the parking deck projects.

The 55-member board, consisting of University alumni, advises the dean, faculty and staff of the Terry College and supports programs that cultivate a continued affiliation between alumni and the institution.