Turn Key denies ‘defects and deficiencies’ allegations with Peak work
Fort Smith-based Turn Key Construction Management has denied allegations by the Fort Smith Public School District related to problems with the district’s Peak Innovation Center, saying the district was notified by Turn Key “numerous times about its concerns, particularly about drainage and grading.”
The district, through attorney Marshall Ney in the Rogers office of Friday, Eldredge & Clark, filed a lawsuit on May 1 against Turn Key seeking compensation for damages and other costs related to “defects and deficiencies” in Turn Key’s work to build the more than $20 million center.
The May 1 complaint alleged that “defectively constructed” work included grading and surface/subsurface drainage systems, concrete flatwork, asphalt pavement, masonry assemblies, exterior insulation and finishing assemblies, missing isolation joints, and window installations and flashings. The complaint also alleges a “defectively designed” roof drainage system.
In a June 4 filing with the Sebastian County Circuit Court, Niki Cung, with Fayetteville-based Kotak Rock, sought on behalf of Turn Key to dismiss the case. In addition to noting that Turn Key tried several times to alert the district of issues with the Peak project, Cung noted in the June 4 response that design and other project decisions were outside of Turn Key’s authority.
“Pleading affirmatively, the damages alleged by Plaintiff were proximately caused by the acts of third parties over whom Turn Key exercised no dominion or control and had no legal liability, and further, those acts constitute a superseding and intervening cause, thereby relieving Turn Key of any responsibility for any of the claims or damages asserted in the Complaint,” the filing noted.
The filing also noted that “alleged damages, if any, were caused by Plaintiff’s own actions or omissions, or the actions or omissions of others.”
Both parties have asked for a jury trial. The case is before Circuit Court Judge Gunner DeLay. Link here for the June 4 Turn Key response filed by Cung.
PEAK BACKGROUND
Peak 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 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.
Turn Key was hired in 2020 as the construction manager at risk to construct the initial phase of Peak.
The facility flooded soon after its opening, causing damages in and around the property. A drainage project that included an additional parking lot, approved by the school board in 2022, 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.
The district in November 2025 approved work to study a phase 4 effort to address drainage at the center. The phase 1 and 2 work have a maximum cost of $866,000, according to the district, and the phase 3 work has a max cost of $679,000. Fort Smith-based engineering firm Mickle Griffin estimated that phase 4 costs could range between $2 million and $5 million.