Contractors that worked on an aborted skateboard park in Fort Snelling are suing the Park Board for $1.8 million in unpaid work.

The skateboard park, proposed by a company owned by Robert Naegele III, received Park Board approval in 2002. Members of the board envisioned a public-private partnership that would generate revenues for the cash-strapped board. But the project was never completed because Naegele was never able to obtain the necessary financing. The construction companies involved in the project subsequently filed suit against Naegele’s company, Fort LLC, and the Park Board. Fort LLC, however, has no assets, which leaves the Park Board on the hook.

“I think we had a good contract,” Don Sigglekow, the Park Board’s general manager for administration and finance, told Scott Russell in the Southwest Journal. “The legal aspect is that it is not our project. We did not engage in any contracts. We don’t feel the liens are a legal remedy.”

The parties have been in mediation, but no settlements have been reached. A trial has been set for October 31.