This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A Utah design firm is suing The Leonardo, alleging the Salt Lake City museum failed to pay costs and fees incurred for the construction of the exhibit "Flight" that opened in August and remains on display at 209 E. 500 South.
According to the legal action brought by Creative Services Bureau, LLC, in 3rd District Court, The Leonardo owes the design firm hundreds of thousands of dollars.
"Flight" is a landmark for The Leonardo — its first large-scale exhibit created in-house after years of hosting traveling shows such as "Body Worlds," "Mummies of the World" and "The Dead Sea Scrolls."
The Leonardo signed an agreement in October 2015 to pay Creative Services 20 percent of the estimated $640,000 cost to build the installation, according to court documents. The company agreed to accept the 20 percent fee rather than a flat fee, the lawsuit states, in the event costs increased.
And costs did soar, according to the legal action, such that Creative Services' 20 percent could be as high as $700,000.
If that is accurate, the exhibit cost millions.
The Leonardo has paid the design firm about $126,000 to date, the suit stated.
A spokesman for The Leonardo, Andrew Parker, said Thursday that settlement negotiations are ongoing. He added, however, that he could not comment further.
The installation proved to be difficult to get off the ground, Marissa de Simone, the museum's exhibits director, told The Tribune in August.
"We started with a really ambitious idea, and getting from the idea to realizing the idea — with these planes and getting them into the building — has been a whole host of problems that needed solutions," de Simone said. "Luckily, we had the right team and we figured it out."
Upon its opening, "Flight" was hailed by Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski, Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams and former U.S. senator and one-time astronaut Jake Garn.
The entrance of the exhibit is a "Tunnel of Dreams," an illuminated arch with some 200 hand-drawn blueprint-like images depicting human concepts of flight, from creatures of ancient mythology to the space age.
The centerpiece of the installation are two airplanes: A C-131 Samaritan, a U.S. military transport made in 1954, and a Soviet-made MiG-21 that flew in the Polish Air Force. The MiG is suspended high from the Leonardo's ceiling, while the C-131's wings span the width of the building, with about six inches of space between wingtip and wall on both sides.
In March 2016, The Leonardo requested that Creative Services suspend work on the exhibit because it was having funding difficulties, the suit states. In April, The Leonardo asked the design firm to continue work because it had secured further funding.
According to court documents, in June 2016, Creative Services informed The Leonardo that finishing the project on an expedited timeline to open by August would likely increase costs by 25 to 30 percent.
"Though The Leonardo approved the costs that Creative Services paid to perform its work on the "Flight" exhibit, The Leonardo failed and/or refused to reimburse the design firm for all of the costs incurred by Creative Services on The Leonardo's behalf," the suit states.
At a minimum, The Leonardo owes Creative Services $228,000, according to the legal action. But the museum has failed to provide the firm with the information necessary to calculate the 20 percent fee, the suit alleges.
"[B]ased on the representations made by The Leonardo, including representations regarding investments and donations, the 20 percent fee that the Leonardo owes to Creative Services likely exceeds $700,000, plus interest," it states.
In June, The Leonardo mounted a crowdfunding campaign to finance the exhibit via IndieGoGo, with a goal of $100,000. So far, the campaign has raised $6,716.