Board Chooses Construction Firms For Proposed Osteopathic Project

The proposed Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine announced Sept. 5 it has chosen Beshears Construction Inc. and Nabholz Construction Services to lead the construction of the Arkansas Colleges of Health Education (ACHE) and the proposed osteopathic school at Chaffee Crossing in Fort Smith.

Beshears is headquartered in Fort Smith. Nabholz is based in Conway but has an office in Fort Smith.

The first building on the campus will house the osteopathic school and physician’s assistant school. The design for the three-story building, led by Risley & Associates of Fort Smith, is approximately 100,000-SF and located just west of Chad Colley Boulevard.

Dirt work should begin soon, said ACHE president and CEO Kyle Parker, in preparation for an early 2015 construction start.

Upon its completion, the new osteopathic school would be Arkansas’ first college of osteopathic medicine and one of just 31 in the United States. 

The school anticipates accepting its first class of students in the fall of 2016.