GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) - A contractor is threatening to stop work on Margaritaville Amusement Park in south Mississippi over what it says are $5 million in unpaid construction bills.
The Tindall Corp., a South Carolina family business with a division in Moss Point, Mississippi, has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Gulfport.
Tindall is suing companies affiliated with Margaritaville Resort Biloxi and the amusement park being built beside it in Biloxi, the Sun Herald reported.
The amusement park has generated wide interest. It is supposed to include the country’s first AEROBAR, where riders can have drinks while seated around a bar that ascends into the sky for 360-degree views of the waterfront. A Ferris wheel and other rides also are planned.
Tindall is casting the two-story parking garage and platform the rides will sit on. The company is suing Biloxi Lodging LLC, owner of Margaritaville, and the Stewart Family Trust.
As head of the trust, Lori Stewart signed a guarantee of payment for the Margaritaville podium that Tindall is building. She is listed in state records as a manager of Biloxi Lodging.
Margaritaville developers say their dispute with Tindall is over how much work has been completed, and the parties are in negotiations to resolve their issues.
Tindall’s lawsuit says Biloxi Lodging stopped paying on construction work in July but continued to promise payments for months by claiming it was “about to get its funding from loans once it cleared up some small tax issues.”
The Mississippi Department of Revenue confirms it has more than $553,612 in tax liens against Biloxi Lodging for unpaid sales taxes from July and August 2019.
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