Firm with Tri-City ties to pay $2M after new WA school was forced to close
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- Design West Architects will pay the Moses Lake School District $1.85 million.
- Groff Elementary opened in 2021 and closed in April 2024 due to severe defects.
- The district is pursuing remaining claims and has sued Fowler General Construction.
Design West Architects will pay the Moses Lake School District $1.85 million to help offset remediation costs after crucial deficiencies were discovered at the newly built Groff Elementary School that left the building uninhabitable.
The firm is behind many of the new school builds in the Tri-Cities region — including Orion High School in Pasco, Richland’s TLAC administrative building and additions at the Tri-Tech Skills Center in Kennewick. Though no serious issues have been reported at those buildings.
The settlement is a compromise of disputed claims and is not an admission of liability or wrongdoing by either party.
Voters in the Moses Lake School District approved a $135 million bond in February 2017 that allowed for the reconstruction of Groff Elementary and the addition of a new high school. It contracted with Design West and Richland-based Fowler General Construction for the projects. The design firm has offices in Oregon, Idaho and Washington — including the Tri-Cities.
The $18 million elementary school opened in 2021 and faced several challenges and severe defections, including concerning electrical issues that forced closure in April 2024. It was closed for part of the 2024-25 school year, and for the entirety of this past 2025-26 school year.
The settlement with Design West is an “important step forward” for the district, said Superintendent Carol Lewis in a statement.
“Receiving $1.85 million will help offset the remediation costs at Groff while allowing us to remain focused on what matters: providing safe, high-quality learning and working environments for our students and staff. We appreciate the collaborative efforts that made this resolution possible and remain committed to being good stewards of our taxpayers’ investment,” she said.
Design West said in a statement to the district that it is eager to see Groff Elementary reopen. The district has given no timeline on when that will happen.
The school district says it will continue to pursue remaining claims against other parties involved in building the 500-student school.
It also sued Fowler, claiming in court documents that the company failed to construct the school to the plans and on a schedule that would allow for its full use in September 2021.
The district listed several building deficiencies in its claim that touched “nearly every area of the school,” including defective electrical systems that shock staff, poor roofing that led to water intrusion, defective stairs and concrete, and failing joints.
This story was originally published July 10, 2026 at 4:01 PM with the headline "Firm with Tri-City ties to pay $2M after new WA school was forced to close."
