Ex-pro athlete’s Lake County facility faces lawsuits from trio of builders

TAVARES — Three construction companies have filed lawsuits against former Major League Baseball player Chet Lemon, saying they are still owed more than $1 million in construction liens for The Big House, his new athletic facility that opened last month.

Welbro Building Corp., a Maitland company that was the general contractor for the massive sports facility, is claiming $1.2 million in outstanding bills for itself and 26 subcontractors involved with the project.

Subcontractors have filed the other two lawsuits. Spectro Construction of Howey-in-the-Hills says it is owed $46,167, while Ce- mex Construction Materials Florida LLC. is seeking payment of $16,759.69.

Lemon was a member of the 1984 World Series champion Detroit Tigers team and is a former Eustis High School baseball coach. He is Florida district director for the Amateur Athletic Union, a national organizing body for youth sports. His wife, Gigi, is district treasurer.

The Big House is the Lemons’ dream project, a 162,000-square-foot facility with multiple basketball and volleyball courts. Welbro’s original construction contract was $6 million.

Bruce Holmes, president of Welbro, would not comment, but an attorney for Spectro, George “Trey” Tate, said the company wants payment for its work completed in October.

“We did the job. We did a good job,” Tate said. “We haven’t heard anything to contradict that.”

In an email, Gigi Lemon said: “We have recently become aware of liens and lawsuits that have been filed against The Big House project. We are currently working with Welbro in an effort to resolve the issues.”

She said The Big House has already made an impact: “We are very impressed with the response of hoteliers, restaurants and gas stations as to the economic impact that we are having on their business based upon the initial events that we have run.” TheBigHouse will host national-championship tournaments in July, Gigi Lemon said.