Obama Center subcontractor shuts down amid $4M fight, lays off 25

Weeks after the Obama Presidential Center’s star-studded opening in Chicago, a subcontractor who previously claimed his company was stiffed for nearly $4 million has shut down operations and laid off 25 union workers.

Mike Owen, the owner of Chicago-based Adamson Plumbing Contractors, told Fox News Digital that the financial fallout forced the company to abandon about half a dozen other construction jobs and left it on the verge of collapse. Owen described the shutdown as a painful decision he believed was necessary to save the company from bankruptcy.

"Laying off close to 30 people is something that no owner in our industry wants to do," Owen said. "It’s a hard thing to do, especially when you know you can finish them and the company can still make money. But we were put in a pretty bad corner."

Adamson, which performed its work on the center under the name Marsh-Adamson, has since filed a $1.72 million mechanic’s lien against the property, escalating the payment dispute into a legal fight. ---More...