In this action, Penland Construction Co., Inc. PCC sought payment for an indoor practice facility it built for the Ridgeland High School baseball team on land owned by the Walker County Board of Education. PCC brought suit against the board, the Ridgeland High School Baseball Athletic Boosters Club boosters club, and Michael Brown, the former baseball coach at the high school. The Walker County School District was added later as a defendant. The case was tried to a jury, but the trial court granted in part the defendants’ motions for a directed verdict. Using a special verdict form, the jury then found that no oral contract existed between the parties but that PCC was entitled to a recovery in quantum meruit. The jury returned a verdict in favor of PCC and against Brown, the board, and the school district in the amount of $150,000.1 Judgment was entered on the verdict, and the board, the district, and Brown filed this joint appeal. They assert error in the trial court’s failure to direct a verdict in their favor on the issue of quantum meruit. They also challenge the trial court’s failure to direct a verdict in Brown’s favor, because he receives no personal benefit from the building, and in the board’s favor, because it is not a legal entity. Finally, they maintain that the jury’s verdict was against the weight of the evidence. We find no merit in any of these enumerations, and we affirm the judgment against all appellants. The evidence presented at trial showed that Brown approached Rick Penland, who is the principal shareholder in PCC, and asked him for information about constructing an indoor baseball practice facility to be used for training and for summer camps. At the outset, Brown told Penland that the price should cover only a prefabricated 60′ by 100′ building and should not include “any grade work,” “electrical” work, or “accessories.” Several modifications were made and priced, and when Brown was satisfied, he informed Penland that if the board approved the project, the facility would be financed through the boosters club, which had paid for a baseball field and stadium through various fund-raising projects, donations, and bank loans. Penland testified that he gave Brown several “quotes,” and the final quote for the bare building was $40,000. At Brown’s behest, PCC provided a “scope of work” document to the board’s supervisor of maintenance, who was to bring it up at a board meeting.
The board approved the project but announced publicly that the facility was being donated. Penland immediately questioned Brown, who told Penland that the announcement was a “media misprint.” Relying on Brown’s word, PCC ordered the prefabricated building from the manufacturer. Brown told Penland that the boosters club would try to do some of the work, including the site preparation, themselves to keep costs down. But that did not happen; when the boosters club members were unable to do the grading, Brown asked PCC to do it, so the construction could be started. PCC ended up doing some of the site preparation itself and subcontracting the remainder. PCC also did much of the electrical work and various interior add-ons. Penland informed Brown that all this added work could not be done for the original $40,000 quote, and Brown simply requested that PCC “keep good receipts.”
