Officials with Sebastian County and the city of Fort Smith have selected a potential construction manager for the Ben Geren Aquatics Park.
Tulsa-based construction firm Flinco Constructive Solution has been chosen to oversee construction of the $8 million water park, according to Fort Smith Deputy City Administrator Jeff Dingman. The county and city are currently in negotiations with the company which has an office in Springdale.
Flintco recently completed oversight of the construction of the Rogers Water Park which opened earlier this year.
Thirteen companies applied to lead the construction project, but Dingman said the selection committee was impressed with Flintco's experience building large water parks.
"We really wanted someone who had taken on a good challenge and a water park of significant size that's comparable to the one we're trying to build," said Dingman. "They've done that on a number of occasions, and so that was the leading factor in choosing to negotiate a contract with them."
Once a contract has been negotiated, Dingman said the quorum court and the board of directors will vote to officially hire of Flintco as the construction manager.
Dingman said they are on track to break ground on the aquatic center spring 2014. City leaders hope the water park will be open by Memorial Day 2015.