The University of Iowa has been ordered to pay a Cedar Rapids contractor nearly $21.5 million after a lengthy legal battle over its work on the new Stead Family Children’s Hospital and Hancher Auditorium, the Cedar Rapids Gazette reported. An arbitration panel issued the final award in March in favor of Modern Piping Inc., noting the contractor “incurred substantial expense in performing additional work for which Iowa was clearly responsible to pay.” More than $4.6 million of the award relates to UI’s project of building a new Hancher after the original was damaged in the 2008 floods. Should the total amount stand, it would further balloon the $360 million price tag on the Children’s Hospital, which reported a $7.2 million budget deficit last year.