No end in sight for Tim Hortons Field lawsuit, city says

The city says it's "worked hard and in good faith" to settle a lawsuit over Hamilton's Tim Hortons Field stadium, but a new statement shows there'sno immediate end in sight.

The city is involved in litigation with Infrastructure Ontario (IO), the Toronto2015 Pan Am organizing committee, the Ontario Sports Solutions (ONSS) construction consortium and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats over the stadium, which suffered so many construction setbacks that its opening was delayed by months.

And while the citypreviously hinted a legal resolution is imminent, a statement Tuesday shows otherwise.

"The next step is for the parties to submit their statements of defence, which the city plans to do early summer," it says.

The city, it says, is also "confident in its position in the litigation."

It comes more than a year after the city filed a notice of legal action against IO and ONSS. IO filed its own notice of legal action, as did the Ticats.

The city's claim asked for $35 million in damages for breach of contract, negligence and misrepresentation when it came to the planning, procurement, design, construction, project management and other aspects of the stadium. Of that, $14 million in damage awards would be passed on to the Ticats.

In March, city councillors voted not to hire Kenaidan Contracting which with Bouygues Building Canada comprised ONSS for two years. David Kirkland, Kenaidan's chief operating officer, apologized to them.

"It injured our reputation," he said."It's something we regret, and we will regret for a long time."

The stadium had numerous problems. Its opening was delayed by months as crews rushed to finish it. Then last year, a speaker the size of a bar fridge fell and bounced several rows, taking out 30 seas. The city hired its own engineer to check "everything in the air."

The city has kept mum on the results of that effort, citing the current litigation.

In a statement, the The Tiger-Cats said they "have no comment on the litigation and see no merit in discussing a legal matter in the media beyond a continuing commitment to working with the City of Hamilton, Infrastructure Ontario and other necessary parties to resolve the dispute.We have the exclusive right to bring both the Grey Cup and Professional Soccer to Hamilton, and are happy to hear the City is committed to working with us to bring both of these great opportunities to our great city and region."