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| Winter 1997 Issue |
New Facility Shelters Troubled Youths
Beyer Construction recently completed the new
Washington County Shelter Care Facility, an agency serving
youths aged 12 to 17 who are in trouble with the law or their
families.
The typical stay at the facility is one week and each resident
is assigned his or her own bedroom. With the building's four
separate wings or "pods," residents can be grouped
by gender, age, aggresiveness, and other arrangements, as
needed.
The county hired Beyer in the fall of 1995 to
provide pre-construction services and to manage the construction
project. A key challenge was balancing the scope of the project
with the available budget. The project cost was $1,230,000
and construction started in mid-April of 1996.
Don Ryd, Director of the Department of Social Services, says
a major goal was to build the largest facility allowed by
the license
for juvenile shelters. He says it was designed to serve the
county's needs for many years to come.
Working with Beyer in the pre-construction phase, the building's
footprint was expanded from the initial plan of 9,000 square
feet to 10,100. In addition to the 20-bed dormitory, it includes
bathroom and shower facilities, an activity room, kitchen, lunch
room, counseling areas and administrative offices. HNTB Corp.
was the facility's architect.
Ryd says, "We tried to soften the institutional feel by
adding color and carpeting in areas, and some soft furniture
as opposed to hard plastic or wood."
He was impressed by the management of the project. "There
were all sorts of trades people on site in the last two to three
weeks really working quite compatibly to get the building complete
when it was scheduled. I'm amazed at how smoothly it went, and
it was all taking place without huge arguments between different
disciplines."
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