Fort Smith school district sues contractor over Peak Center ‘defects and deficiencies’

The Fort Smith Public School District on May 1 filed a lawsuit against Turn Key Construction Management seeking compensation for damages and other costs related to “defects and deficiencies” in Turn Key’s work to build the district’s Peak Innovation Center.

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.

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.

Turn Key was hired in 2020 as the construction manager at risk to construct the initial phase of Peak. Company owner Sandy Dixon was elected to the school board in May 2022, but did not seek a second term.

ALLEGATIONS
Allegations of “defectively constructed” work includes 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.

The complaint also alleges that Turn Key failed to install fireproofing in an area that was to be used for the center’s art wing.

“Due to the expense to install the missing, additional code-compliant fireproofing, Plaintiff was forced to construct the art wing in an area of the Peak Innovation Center building’s first floor (which had proper fireproofing already installed), and the entire second floor of the building remains defective and unstable,” the complaint noted.

The complaint also alleges that Turn Key has not been willing to address the issues cited.

“Defendant Turn Key has failed and/or refused, to fully and completely remediate and/or repair the defects and deficiencies at issue and all corresponding damages,” according to the complaint. “Consequently, the District was forced to expend significant monies to make emergency and/or interim repairs to remedy conditions necessitated by Defendant’s poor construction.”

Link here for a PDF of the complaint.

‘LOSS OF TRUST’
Dixon declined to comment about the lawsuit. She has previously said she and her company leadership held numerous meetings with the district and its representatives to point out design problems and potential future problems with the project.

Danny Haynal, vice president of Turn Key, noted in a letter emailed to school board members on June 7, 2023, that Turn Key “repeatedly raised the red flag” over water issue concerns with the building. They were told in a letter from the Friday Law Firm, written by Ney, that it was appropriate for the district to follow the advice of its design professionals, whose job it was to design and engineer a project. It was Turn Key’s job to construct it, the letter from the law firm said. Dixon has said that Turn Key was essentially told to “shut up” and do the work.

Turn Key on March 4, 2021 presented district officials with a letter stating they would have no liability or responsibility in the event that the proposed French drain system does not fully and finally resolve the moisture problem.

In June 2023, Turn Key and Halff Associates, an engineering firm involved in the work, notified the district that they would no longer bid on school projects. Travis Brisendine, vice president and Fort Smith operations manager for Halff Associates, cited a “loss of trust with FSPS staff” in their decision cut professional ties with the district. Brisendine, in a 24-page letter sent to the school to the school board in May 2023, said school officials blocked his firm from providing school board members with critical information about flooding and flood prevention at the building.