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Juvenile Facility (Center Street Campus) <br />Recommendation: Construct a new facility on a five acre site immediately west of <br />the existing Juvenile building. The facility will be designed as a <br />4 pod facility, as outlined in the subcommittee report, but only <br />three pods will be constructed at this time. The fourth pod will <br />be constructed when justified by need and when operating funds <br />are available. Vacated space in the existing building should be <br />occupied by the Health Dept. or youth and family related pro- <br />grams. <br />Priority: The Committee has assigned this project an A prioriry. <br />Cost factors: The cost is estimated at $17.5 million for 3 pods. The cost of <br />an additional pod would be $1.75 million. Concern was ex- <br />pressed about the County's ability to provide additional operat- <br />ing funds for the expanded facility. It was suggested that a new <br />tax base would be required to support this program. <br />Options Considered: The Committee considered the option of adding new detention <br />and program facilities to the existing building. This option was <br />rejected because the cost savings are small (approximately <br />$500,000) and the staged construction would be disruptive to the <br />existing programs. Some temporary relocation of existing <br />programs would also be required during construction. The <br />committee also considered a subcommittee finding that remodel- <br />ing of the existing building for detention related programs is <br />more costly than traditional office uses because of unique code <br />and safety problems. <br />Risks and <br />liabilities: Some concern was expressed about City and Neighborhood <br />objections to an expanded facility. This concern was acknowl- <br />edged, but overriden by a stronger committment to support <br />youth related intervention programs. Increased traffic on <br />Center Street was also discussed. There are two projects under <br />consideration which may reduce the traffic impact on the neigh- <br />borhood. The City is considering a widening project for Center <br />Street and the County is planning a new access road south <br />connecting with State Street. <br />