Global Courant 2023-04-27 04:18:35
Consultants hired to evaluate three potential sites for New Hampshire’s new juvenile detention center are recommending real estate adjacent to the state’s existing juvenile psychiatric hospital in Hampstead.
SMRT Architects and Engineers assessed the 94-acre estate housing Hampstead Hospital, the current Sununu Youth Services Center and 50 acres around it in Manchester, and a vacant building in a state office park in Concord. In a report released Wednesday, officials said the Hampstead location was most beneficial for the development of the new facility.
The debate over building a new facility began years ago, but has come to a head amid horrific allegations of sexual abuse dating back decades. Frustrated with spending $13 million a year to operate a 144-bed facility for about a dozen teens, in 2021 lawmakers ordered it to close by March 2023. They missed that deadline. But they recently passed legislation allocating about $22 million to design and build a 12-bed facility, with room for up to 18.
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The consultants hired as part of that process evaluated the three locations based on several factors, including the style and feel of the environment, the ability to share meals and laundry services with other facilities, and proximity to medical facilities, law enforcement, skilled workers, and residents’ families.
FILE – The Sununu Youth Services Center in Manchester, NH, stands among the trees, January 28, 2020. An advisory group hired by the state has identified a property best suited for a scaled-down replacement facility. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)
While the current site scored highly for being close to outside support services such as medical facilities and courts and for being in a major population center, it received low marks for being incompatible with what would eventually be developed around it. Consultants also said the new facility would need to be built somewhere “with no negative historical context,” which would be inconsistent with the “tumultuous history” of the current property.
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In contrast, the report said the Hampstead location is “aesthetically complementary to a calm, healing environment”. The new facility could be sufficiently separated from the existing hospital while sharing food and laundry services, and its location in the southern part of the state could increase employee recruiting potential.
The Concord site scored low on multiple measures, particularly because choosing that site did not imply the construction of a new building, but rather the renovation of a building unsuitable for a secure facility. The building is part of a densely developed state office park that houses several government agencies and non-profit organizations.
“This part of the campus is busy, hectic and full of pedestrians and vehicles,” the report states. “Londergan Hall exudes a sense of authority with its traditional historic design. This building does not represent a vision of treatment, rehabilitation and hope for the future.”
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The report will be submitted to a committee set up to work with communities and the state during the design process.
