Senate hearing presses for answers on 11‑year Paul E. Joseph Stadium rebuild as spending tops $32 million

Senate Committeechair Senator Angel L. Boulkos Jr., chair of the Committee on Culture, Youth, Ageing, Sports and Parks, opened a July 18 hearing in Frederiksted, St. Croix, to review financial, procurement and construction oversight of the Paul E. Joseph Stadium redevelopment, a project that has been under way since a 2013 groundbreaking and has received more than $32 million in territorial appropriations.

The hearing brought together the Department of Public Works (DPW), Department of Property and Procurement (DPP), Department of Planning and Natural Resources (DPNR), Department of Sports, Parks and Recreation (DSPR), representatives of GEC LLC (the design‑build contractor) and other stakeholders to answer senators’ questions about repeated schedule extensions, change orders, missing systems and contract oversight.

Why it matters: The stadium is a high‑profile public project intended to serve youth leagues, cultural events and sports tourism in Saint Croix. Lawmakers pressed agencies and the contractor for clearer timelines, documentation of change‑order costs and evidence that completed work matches payments. The body heard that GEC has been paid roughly $25.7 million to date and that about 60–70 percent of the project is reported complete, while elected officials and committee members described large gaps between reported progress and visible site work.

Most important facts

- The project was a design‑build contract first issued in 2013 and originally budgeted at $20 million. Subsequent design changes and supplemental contracts raised the combined contract value to roughly $32.1 million, and additional funding packages were passed in multiple legislative acts.

- Commissioner Derek A. Gabriel, Department of Public Works, told the committee that DPW has paid about $25.7 million so far, leaving an approximate remaining contract balance of $6.4 million on the original contract and supplemental contract…