In August of 1966, John McShain, Inc., entered into an agreement with the U.S. General Services Administration to build the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The original estimate was for $41 million. The architect for the project was Edward Durrell Stone. Construction began on September 8, 1966, and was supposed to be completed on January 19, 1969. However, the project was not finished until June 30, 1972 at a cost of $72 million. As with Columbia Plaza delays and cost overruns resulted in numerous lawsuits. The government was slow to compensate John McShain, Inc., which in turn was slow in paying subcontractors. McShain sued the government for $6 million in damages and the government filed a counter claim for $2 million to fix the leaky roof. On February 4, 1977, the suits were settled, John McShain was paid $1, 960, 000 and Congress voted $4, 500, 000 to repair the roof.