The city of Orlando, Florida told a local news station that it was considering fines against the contractor paid to remove the old American Federal Building. The seven-story former bank building shares the arts center site, and the city's original plan called for it to be gone by Oct. 1, more than a month before the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts grand opening.

The city then said it would be down by New Year's Eve, and then by Jan. 2.

But as of Monday, Jan. 5, part of the structure was still standing, with no new word on a new deadline.

Before the contract was issued to demolish the Round Building, Orlando officials were warned that the winning bidder didn't have the experience needed to do the job.

City officials disagreed and Crusader Demolition of Lakeland, Florida ultimately got the $736,810 contract anyway.

A panel of city employees ranked Crusader the highest among the demolition companies that bid on the Round Building project. But Pece of Mind Environmental Inc., an Orlando company that was ranked second, filed a formal protest saying Crusader's proposal should be rejected because the company didn't have enough experience.

When the city solicited bids for the job, it included a requirement that bidders had to have demolished at least two buildings in the past 10 years that were three or more stories tall, at least 30,000 square feet, and in an urban environment.

Crusader representatives listed four projects it said met the city's criteria. But in its protest, Pece's attorney said none of them did.

In a letter responding to its competitor's accusations, Crusader dismissed Pece's allegation and defended its experience: "Crusader … understands this project's complexities and the complexities of demolishing multi-story structures, which only comes with experience."

The city's procurement officer sided with Crusader and rejected the bid protest. Pece appealed, but before that appeal could be heard — and before the contract was awarded to Crusader — city officials abruptly canceled all the bids.

Crusader's original supervisor on the job site was fired after video of him shooting an assault rifle in the Round Building's basement was leaked to the media.