DENVER — In a follow-up report to a 2023 audit, the Denver Auditor's Office said the City of Denver remains at risk of overpaying for future construction work in the Denver International Airport Great Hall Project.
"This is really about management and oversight," said Denver Auditor Timothy O'Brien.
O'Brien's office said the Great Hall Project is expected to reach $2.1 billion. The follow-up report, which was released on Jan. 2, found the airport is still "not following procurement procedures or documenting and maintaining records for decision-making processes" in addition to "not requiring contractors to submit documentation of actual costs" for the project.
O'Brien said the lack of documentation can limit the airport's ability to ensure whether or not it's overpaying for work.
"These are public funds at the airport, and with any other project funded by the City and County of Denver, I think the public has a right to know how their tax dollars are being spent," said O'Brien.
The Great Hall Project is not a taxpayer-funded project, according to the project's website. Under the frequently asked questions (FAQs) tab, officials wrote, "DEN is an enterprise of the City and County of Denver, so no taxpayer money is used from the city’s general fund for any projects or operations at the airport."
Work started on the Jeppesen Terminal in 2018 and travelers have noticed the work ever since.
"There's a lot of disruption in traffic and flow throughout the airport," said Brian Muller, who was picking up a friend at DIA on Thursday.
Problems started with Great Hall's initial contractor in 2019. A new contractor was expedited — at a cost of $184 million — to re-envision the project, which should be done by 2028.
With the project taking literal years, it caught the attention of the Denver Auditor's Office.
"There's no question about the scale. It's a very large project, but I don't have an answer for you as to why the documentation isn’t there," said O'Brien.
- Read the full follow-up report below
Denver7 asked O'Brien if the airport could face any penalties for not keeping documentation for a project of this size.
"Other than, you know, those dollars might have been better spent somewhere else," he said.
In response to the report, Denver International Airport issued a statement to Denver7, saying "We appreciate the auditor’s follow up report from the audit of April 2023 and look forward to working with the auditor and his team as we continually improve our processes. The airport remains confident that it has adequate controls in place to ensure proper oversight of its projects."
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