Fort Smith’s Peak Center floods … again

With relatively moderate rainfall over the weekend, the Fort Smith Public Schools Peak Innovation Center has flooded once again. It’s the third time the unique school facility has had water enter the building.

Dr. Terry Morawski, superintendent, sent an email notification to members of the FSPS Board of Education Monday (June 5) stating that “Peak experienced water infiltration again in the office area and unfinished area near the office” from storms over the weekend. Water impacted a 2×20-foot area in the office, Morawski said in the email to the school board.

“This event was not as extensive as the last event. Also, the water did not damage any carpet or furniture,” the email said.

Scott Archer with the HSA Engineering and the FSPS facilities team will further investigate the flooding and discuss solutions, the email said.

“We plan to begin excavation work in front of the office this week to study the source of the water,” the email said.

Peak, which opened March 28, 2022, after numerous delays, also experienced a flooding incident in March and in June 2022. Following a storm March 23, water primarily entered inside the front office area and seeped into the adjacent hallway and near classroom areas, a statement from the district said. None of the classrooms experienced damage, and all classrooms were operational by March 27.

FSPS hired HSA Engineering Consulting of Fort Smith which recommended the district check and ensure the control joints are sealed; hydro-jet the underground drainage; run a camera through the drainage lines to ensure structural integrity is intact; and excavate areas to ensure roof drainage is intact and functional. The contract with HSA was not to exceed $3,500. Shaffer said the district has completed those measures.

“Additionally, the engineer recommended installing a new overflow drain from the existing storm box. We are in the process of implementing this recommendation,” he said.

HSA Engineering said in a report on the incident, sent to the district May 11, that based on initial evidence, their suspicion was that a below slab roof drainpipe had failed allowing water to escape below slab.

“Although our investigation did not uncover a definitive failure that we believe could have caused the significant water intrusion event, we do believe there are issues with the roof drainage system that should be addressed to improve roof drain performance,” the report said.

Following are recommendations in the report.
• Abandon the existing below slab drainpipe and reroute the drains serving the internal gutter drain between the east and west wings of the building from the existing below slab drainpipe to the south end of the building and terminate them into the existing south drainage ditch.

• Rework the below grade roof drain piping on the south side of the east wing to allow adequate relief of the drainage from the south half of the east wing of the building.

• Further investigate the abandoned sewer lift station sump on the north side of the building to ensure that the piping serving that sump has been adequately capped to prevent water from entering below the slab from that sump in the event storm water is infiltrating the sewer sump.

Record rainfall in Fort Smith caused flash flooding in the city June 7, June 8 and June 10 of 2022. That incident caused flooding in the east parking lot of the facility. Water came into the center during the rainfall June 7 from two sources, according to FSPS reports.

Following the June 2022 flooding, a drainage project by Halff Associates (formerly Morrison-Shipley Engineers, Inc.) that includes an additional parking lot, was approved by the school board. That original project was expected to eliminate future drainage problems by raising the lower parking lot on the property and excavating the east field for a detention pond. At the May 22 school board meeting,

Joseph Velasquez, FSPS construction project manager, presented to the board modifications to the project. The modified project changes the original presented drainage fix as well as the extended options presented in April to only include raising existing parking, removing existing 42-inch diameter reinforced concrete pipes and installing 4.5-foot by 6-foot box culverts and putting in a trickle channel.

Hallf, who was hired by Fort Smith Public Schools for consultation work with Peak and also investigated the 2022 flooding event and presented preventive measures that could stop further flooding, said the modified project would eliminate water pooling at the property. Travis Brisendine, vice president and Fort Smith operations manager for Halff Associates (formerly Morrison-Shipley Engineers, Inc.) sent an email to Morawski and members of the FSPS Board of Education on May 31 stating it would decline any future design services at the innovation center.

“Following up on our meeting yesterday with Martin Mahan, Shawn Shaffer, and Joseph Velasquez, we are confirming Halff is declining the opportunity to provide additional design services for any further drainage solutions that FSPS pursues at the Peak Innovation Center.  The reason for declining this opportunity is our loss of trust with FSPS staff,” the email said.

Brisendine wrote a letter to school board members and the district May 12 expressing concern over “unique drainage challenges” at Peak and information that has been shared with the school board.