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Government

Possible New Site for Juvenile Detention Center

Scott County

The Scott County Board is moving ahead with plans to build a new juvenile detention center. On Tuesday, supervisors decided to reject a possible downtown site and hired an architectural and engineering firm to help design the building.

Board Chair Ken Beck says the only possible downtown site was on West Fourth Street at Warren, and formerly was used by Burke's Cleaner's. But because of possible environmental problems, the board decided to look elsewhere.

"When you kind of take a look at what's available downtown, that's really the only thing we saw that was available that would require minimal site preparation. That means you don't have to tear a building down and the cost associated with some of those buildings downtown is pretty high."

He says one possible alternative is a county-owned building on Tremont Avenue in north Davenport. It was formerly used by the sheriff's department and because it's a simple metal building, it would be easy to demolish.

Even though a final decision has not yet been made, Beck says Wold Architects and Engineers will begin working on possible juvenile jail designs.

"It's a construction related thing, if we get it started now, we can hopefully get the foundations in late summer, and start the structure early fall, and hopefully get it enclosed before the real cold weather comes."

The contract with Wold is for $997,000 and the Scott County Board is now planning for the new juvenile detention facility to have 36 beds. The current center downtown has 18 beds.

Government
A native of Detroit, Herb Trix began his radio career as a country-western disc jockey in Roswell, New Mexico (“KRSY, your superkicker in the Pecos Valley”), in 1978. After a stint at an oldies station in Topeka, Kansas (imagine getting paid to play “Louie Louie” and “Great Balls of Fire”), he wormed his way into news, first in Topeka, and then in Freeport Illinois.