Fort Smith school board approves ‘phase 4’ design work to address Peak Center flooding

A $204,313 contract with Fort Smith-based Mickle Griffin was approved Monday (Nov. 17) by the Fort Smith Public School (FSPS) Board to provide engineering analysis, bid preparation, and other work for “phase 4” drainage construction at the district’s Peak Innovation Center.

The unique Peak center includes specialized lab spaces and classrooms for courses in health care, information technology, and advanced manufacturing. When it opened, the facility provided education programs to approximately 43,000 students from 22 regional school districts. The programs are designed to equip career and college-bound students with real-world skills so they can secure high-paying jobs and/or pursue higher education in their chosen fields.

The regional workforce training facility was constructed from the former Hutcheson shoe manufacturing building at 5900 Painter Lane. The 181,710-square-foot building sits on almost 17 acres at the corner of Zero Street and Painter Lane.

The district spent at least $20.363 million, including millage funds, public and private grants, and other sources of funding to open the center in March 2022. The building was initially set to open in August 2021 but faced construction-related delays, according to the district.

Following its opening, the Peak building was partially damaged by several floods. The district investigated the flooding and has hired a Texas law firm to pursue legal action related to the flood damage.

The first two phases of work focused on efforts to keep water away from the building by improving warehouse overflow drains and other site drainage work. Work on the first two phases are “substantially complete,” according to Nate Deason with MAHG Architecture. Phase 3 will address the overflow drains on the main Peak center, and bids have been received on that work, Deason said Monday.

The phase 1 and 2 work have a maximum cost of $866,000, and the phase 3 work has a max cost of $679,000.

According to Mickle Griffin’s presentation, reasons the Peak center “remains at risk of flooding” include the area flood elevation being above the building floor, drainage that “appears inadequate for design flows,” poor construction quality, no “emergency routing” for flood events, ongoing erosion, and “settlement” that creates “safety hazards and maintenance challenges.” A big part of the issue is that 160 acres to the north of the Peak property drains into and through the property, according to Mickle Griffin.

The engineering firm estimates that the phase 4 costs to address the issues could cost between $2 million and $5 million. Josh Mickle with Mickle Griffin said the design and analysis work should be complete within 90 days.

Superintendent Martin Mahan told the board that it is “very necessary” to approve the Mickle Griffin contract so “this beautiful building is adequately moving the water away from it.” Mahan also said money secured from legal action could help cover some costs of the work.

“We are in conversations and moving toward litigation to recover some of the costs to offset the cost of the issues we’ve been dealing with at Peak,” Mahan said.

The district declined to answer questions about the likely timeline of legal action and the type of legal action possible. The school board in late August 2024 agreed to hire San Antonio-based Pearson Legal PC to advise the district on its potential claims related to construction defects at Peak that resulted in frequent flooding.

“I want to get it fixed and get it fixed right,” said Brittney Hall, board member. “I want it to be up and operating at full capacity without any fear of flooding … or any other maintenance issues that may come up.”

The school board voted 6-0 to approve the Mickle Griffin contract. Board President Dalton Person was not present at the meeting.

PEAK BACKGROUND
An independent investigation into flooding issues at Peak found that a lack of detailed plans for the building and multiple code violations caused problems with the rainwater drainage system that led to flooding.

Envista Forensics, hired by the district to find the cause of multiple instances of flooding at Peak, presented a report on their more than five-month investigation on March 26, 2024. At that meeting, Envista confirmed it did not contact any company associated with the project other than the school district as part of the investigation.

At least four of the firms involved with the planning and construction of the Peak Center contacted the district after being asked if they wished to respond, in order to disagree with the findings. Documents in response to that FSPS request, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request from Talk Business & Politics, indicated that the main architects, the project manager, the contraction manager at risk and another architect for the project disagreed with the Envista report.

The subject of an independent investigation into the flooding issues was broached after two companies involved with the construction of the center — Fort Smith-based Turn Key Construction, the construction manager at risk for the Peak project; and Halff Associates (formerly Morrison-Shipley Engineers Inc.), engineers for the project — wrote letters to the school board raising concerns about the building and water issues. A June 1, 2023, letter from Halff to the school district noted that because of a “loss of trust with FSPS staff” they would no longer provide design services on the Peak project.