Forsgren picked as contractor for osteopathic college

The proposed Arkansas Colleges of Health Education announced Friday (Sept. 19) that Forsgren Inc. of Fort Smith was selected as the contractor for site preparation for its new college of osteopathic medicine and work at the site could begin as early as next week.

The medical school, to be built on Chad Colley Boulevard in Chaffee Crossing, will be housed in a $31 million, three-story building.

Kyle Parker, president and CEO of the school, said work at the construction site could begin as early as next week if the weather cooperates. Parker also said he was "very pleased to have such a fine local company in Forsgren provide the initial dirt work and site preparation for the medical college."

President Steve Foresgren said is proud his company is involved in initial construction of the state's first college of osteopathic medicine.

"It's gratifying to see the emphasis on using local companies for this important community project," he said.

Other local companies contracted at the school include architecture firm Risley & Associates, which is leading all architect and design efforts at the school. The Fort Smith-based firm is being paired with Cromwell Architects Engineers of Little Rock to complete the school's master plan, including programming, schematic design and lab and lecture space design.

Parker announced earlier this month at a Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce breakfast that Beshears Construction and Nabholz Construction had been selected as co-construction managers for the project, a first of its kind for the companies.

The proposed osteopathic school will be housed in a 100,000-square-foot building that will house classrooms, administrative offices, two auditoriums, an electronic resource library, dissection labs and could eventually house a proposed physicians assistant program.

Funding for the school from donations and other funding sits at $106.9 million, Parker said. The largest amount of funding – $60 million – is being provided by the Degen Foundation.

The school is working through the accreditation process. Should accreditation occur as expected and construction stays on track, Parker said the building could be complete by April 2016 with its first cohort of students beginning class in August 2016.