Source: http://www.statesmanjournal.com, March 14, 2013
By: Michael Rose

The last lawsuit filed by Marion County and the transit district over Courthouse Square’s botched development has been settled.
Century West Engineering Corp., the company responsible for Courthouse Square’s structural designs, will pay $605,000 a settlement, said Jolene Kelley, a Marion County spokeswoman.
The county and Salem-Keizer Transit share ownership of the Courthouse Square building and bus mall, 555 Court St. NE in Salem. Courthouse Square is undergoing a nearly $23 million repair project. It’s scheduled to reopen in spring 2014.
Over the past three years, litigation stemming from damages at Courthouse Square has collected a grand total of about $12.5 million. More than a half-dozen contractors were pulled into the litigation.
But the single largest settlement came Affiliated FM Insurance Co., which provided a $29 million insurance policy for Courthouse Square. Affiliated FM paid $9.5 million to settle a breach of contract lawsuit.
The Marion County Board of Commissioners on Wednesday agreed to settle litigation with Century West.
Earlier this month, Salem-Keizer Transit also agreed to the settlement. The $605,000 settlement with Century West will be divided between the county and transit district
The $34 million Courthouse Square project had its grand opening in fall 2000, but by 2002 its occupants noticed settling and structural problems. The county and transit district filed the first lawsuit over the defects in 2006.
In summer 2010, engineers determined that the structural problems were worse than initially thought. Courthouse Square was declared a dangerous structure and it was closed to the public.