CHRISTIAN COUNTY

Pensmore owner wanted castle to showcase alternative building material

Giacomo Bologna
GBOLOGNA@NEWS-LEADER.COM

When the owner of Pensmore Castle began construction on the 72,000-square foot structure in Highlandville, he expected it to be an example of what he believes are world-changing construction materials.

Namely, he wanted to show that a steel fiber called Helix could be a better alternative to rebar for supporting concrete.

But construction was halted in 2014 when a whistle-blower said the company responsible for mixing the concrete had been withholding a significant percentage of Helix, according to a lawsuit that recently surfaced.

The castle was never completed, and now, according to his attorney, the owner wants it torn down and rebuilt.

The lawsuit says there was supposed to be more than 200,000 pounds of a unique steel reinforcement mixed into the castle's concrete, but more than 70,000 pounds never made it into the mixture.

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The lawsuit describes Helix as the "key to Pensmore's exceptional structural integrity design" and says that by shorting the amount of it, Pensmore is not as strong as "publicly promoted."

Steven T. Huff, the castle's owner, is an investor in Polytorx, the company that produces Helix.

Polytorx's CEO, Chris Doran, said that when Helix — twisted pieces of steel an inch or two in length — is mixed into concrete, it is superior to the steel reinforcement that is normally placed within concrete, rebar.

He said concrete with rebar cracks; concrete with Helix doesn't.

"(With Helix), you'll never get a crack; you'll get a chip," Doran said.

A local architect who toured the castle called it "phenomenal."

"They have a unique opportunity to show what (Helix) can do," said Brad Erwin of Paragon Architecture.

The castle was designed to withstand bomb blasts and the strongest tornadoes, according to the lawsuit.

Erwin has experience with designing tornado-resistant structures, noting that Paragon has designed about 30 large-scale tornado safe rooms in the past five years.

While he declined to comment on the strength of Pensmore Castle, he noted that the amount of steel reinforcement that gets mixed into concrete is a "critical design factor to withstand EF5 tornadoes."

Doran, the CEO, also declined to comment on the Pensmore Castle lawsuit. He did say that his company ensures Helix will perform at a certain dosage, and if the actual dosage is less than the recommended dosage, the concrete will not be as strong.

Jim Wight has been teaching classes on reinforced concrete for 43 years at the University of Michigan and said he knew the people who developed Helix at the University of Michigan.

Wight explained why the construction of Pensmore is so unique: most concrete structures have rebar; some also have steel fibers mixed into their concrete; very few have only steel fibers like Helix mixed into their concrete as Pensmore Castle does.

Huff had compared his 72,000-square foot castle in Highlandville to the Roman Coliseum, according to Huff's attorney.

Wight is skeptical of that comparison.

It's hard to say the Pensmore Castle will last as long as the Coliseum when Helix "hasn't been around a hundred years," said Wight — and that's regardless of whether the castle was built to specification.

Wight said that rebar provides structural support that's unlikely to be replicated when only using steel fibers. If Pensmore Castle is as strong as it's claimed to be, Wight said that there would have to be a very high dose of Helix mixed into it.

Huff told the News-Leader previously that the pieces of Helix change the physical behavior of concrete, making it much stronger and less vulnerable to impact, high winds and even explosive blasts.

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He said he wanted Pensmore to show both the residential and commercial possibilities of Helix, noting that it could be used to build better hospitals, schools and other buildings.

"I wanted to build something large enough that it would be a lab-scale building," Huff said.

When will the public find out if Pensmore Castle was shorted on Helix?

A local attorney said he expects the case to be resolved by late fall or early winter. Jim Meadows is an attorney at the firm Lathrop and Gage who litigates construction defect suits and said he's reviewed the case. Lathrop and Gage are not involved in the lawsuit.

Both the size of the structure and the amount of money sought — $63 million — make the lawsuit unique, he said.

The trial date is set for this fall, and while both sides in the case have asked for it to be pushed back, Meadows said the federal judge doesn't seem interested in doing so.