A decision on whether to build a new Bartholomew County Youth Services Center, or to transport juvenile offenders to an out-of-county regional facility, may be reached by the end of the year.
The Bartholomew County commissioners hired DLZ Indiana to undertake an architectural study agreement to examine options for a new facility that includes programming and housing for juvenile offenders.
“Our scope would allow the county to get both hard and soft construction costs for a proposed new facility, based on what option is chosen,” said DLZ consulting engineer Charlie Day.
The study agreement should be completed by Dec. 19, Commissioner Carl Lienhoop said. The county is paying the engineer consulting firm $15,000, plus expense reimbursements.
However, commissioner Tony London describes the project as a “loss leader” for DLZ, which means the company won’t make money from the contract.
“The study will actually cost a lot more than that,” London said. “(DLZ) will spend more money that $15,000 doing the work.”
Several options were discussed during a meeting earlier this year with elected county leaders, representatives from the center and Bartholomew Circuit Judge Kelly Benjamin, Day said.
The study is being made to help the commissioners determine what they should do – and what they shouldn’t be involved in, commissioner Chairman Larry Kleinhenz said.
“It could be as much as doing nothing and getting out of the business, or it could be a full-blown total program facility that offers everything and becomes a regional center,” Kleinhenz explained.
A number of Indiana counties have chosen to close their juvenile shelters in favor of outsourcing to regional detention centers, according to Bartholomew County Council member Mark Gorbett.
If the county decides to build a new facility, Kleinhenz said a regional center should be constructed that accepts juvenile offenders from other counties as a means of minimizing expenses for local taxpayers.
While the Youth Services Center opened on Nov. 2, 1992, the building was created as the Bartholomew County Children’s Home in August 1967, to replace the Frances Comfort Thomas Children’s home. Even with eight wings, the building at 2350 Illinois Ave. was built for only $396,000.
Kleinhenz said the facility was never designed or built to be a detention facility for juvenile offenders.
“The commissioners don’t want to put any more money into the building,” Gorbett said.
