Splash City paint contractor denies liability for chipped paint

A paint contractor being sued over work performed on water slides at Splash City Family Waterpark in Collinsville denies responsibility for chipped paint.

PurePlay was sued last December in Madison County by Collinsville Area Recreation District (CARD), which claims it incurred more than $50,000 worth of costs after two water slides began to chip paint soon after the company completed its work.

Represented by Travis Campbell of Bryan Cave in St. Louis, PurePlay asserts 10 affirmative defenses. Among those defenses, the company says that after it completed repairs to the waterslides in question they were resurfaced by CARD, "thereby making it impossible for Defendant to performa warranted work, either under an alleged contract or under statutory warranty law."

"Therefore, some or all of Plaintiff's claims are barred by the doctrine of impossibility.," Campbell wrote.

PurePlay also states that gel coats are "fragile" and need time to cure before being durable enough to weather the elements and undergo "constant use" by waterpark patrons.

"Defendant recommended Plaintiff refrain from operation of the waterslides until the gel coats were fully cured, but Plaintiff did not comply with Defendant's recommendation, thus lessening the integrity of the gel coat and causing the harm giving rise to Plaintiff's claims."

PurePlay is asking that CARD's claims be dismissed with prejudice and it be awarded costs and attorney fees.

In its complaint, CARD alleges it entered into a contract with PurePlay on March 15, 2012, to repair and repaint water slides and paid it $33,674 for the work.

Since PurePlay completed the work, CARD claims the gel coat applied over the paint on the main slide and on the slide named “Rain Fortress” has begun to peel and splinter, causing damage to the slides.

When it performed the work, PurePlay issued a warranty promising to repair defects if any problems arise within 24 months following the paint job, the suit states.

“The plaintiff has been damaged in that the estimate to repair the damage caused by the defendant is between $25,000 to $40,000 per slide, for a total amount of damages ranging from $50,000 to $80,000,” the suit states.

In its complaint, Collinsville seeks a judgment of more than $200,000, plus other relief the court deems just.

Paul J. Evans and Ian Murphy of O’Fallon will be representing it.

Madison County Circuit Court case number: 13-L-2129.