Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice breaks ground on new youth detention center in Lincoln

 

[June 24, 2023] 

On Wednesday, June 21st, the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice (IDJJ) hosted an invitation only groundbreaking ceremony at the building site of the new Juvenile Detention Center in Lincoln. The Lincoln Youth Center is being constructed on state owned property that is the former Lincoln Developmental Center. When the facility closed, the property was owned by the state. Since that time there have been local proposals submitted to the state for the facility but up until 2020, there had been no positive action taken at the site.

Wednesday, former IDJJ Deputy Director Bill Patton served as the host of the groundbreaking event. He started out by telling those gathered that he had been involved in the beginning of the project but had since retired.

He offered a brief timeline saying in late 2018, early 2019 he and a fellow member of the IDJJ had reviewed the property in Lincoln and had noted that it was an ideal location for a youth center. In 2020, Patton submitted a letter to the Illinois Central Management Services asking that the ‘surplus’ property in Lincoln be turned over to the IDJJ for the youth center.

Patton said the property was granted over to the IDJJ and the department was on its way to bringing the project to reality. He said that Cordogan-Clark was the firm selected for the Architecture and Engineering project and work began on designing the property that would be a 21st century version for incarcerated youth.

Patton said now that he has retired, there is a new deputy that will be seeing the project through alongside IDJJ Director Heidi Mueller. Patton then introduced IDJJ Deputy Director Jeremy Burtis.

Burtis came to the podium and after some brief words of thanks to those in attendance he said that when this project began he was an assistant deputy with the IDJJ, so he has seen the work in progress and got to see the behind the scenes action that had brought the project to the current day. He said the project had generated a lot of excitement for the IDJJ. He added that he was happy to be a part of bringing the youth center to the city of Lincoln, to the state, and to the youth of central Illinois who will utilize it.

Director Mueller was the next person to the podium. She said that she personally found this project very exciting because it represented a couple of “firsts” for the state and for youth in detention.

She said the Lincoln facility is the first that is starting out as a facility designed for youth. She said it was not an adult detention facility that had been retrofitted for young people.

Mueller noted that 40 percent of the youth in the system today are from the central Illinois region. Yet, there are no detention facilities in this region. The end result is that for families to stay connected to their children involves three to four hours of travel one way for a brief opportunity to interact with detainees.

Mueller said with a central Illinois facility it will be better for families and that is part of the goal. She said the youth in detention need to be able to maintain and strengthen their bonds with family as part of their rehabilitation.

Another first for the Lincoln facility is that it was designed with input from IDJJ staff and also from youth in detention currently. Mueller said it was a positive for the youth center that young people had an input in what the center would be when finished.

Mueller added that the focus of the youth detention center will be to provide education and skills in a safe environment that will ultimately offer the opportunity for young people to return to society as good citizens with as many tools as possible to lead them into a solid future without recidivism.

Mueller concluded that she was grateful to Mayor Tracy Welch and the City of Lincoln governance for their willingness to partner with the IDJJ. She said that the city’s public works departments had been great to work with and patient as the IDJJ and its engineers worked thought the various stages of design and development.

Capital Development Board Executive Director Jim Underwood was the next to speak. He thanked Governor JB Pritzker and also Senator Sally Turner for the passing of the Illinois Capital Program that would be funding the project.

Underwood explained that the facility will include two 4,300 square foot cottages for housing youth in detention. In the vacant lot directly behind the ceremony tent there would be one 27,000 square foot multi-purpose building that would be the center for education, recreation, and dietary services.

He stressed that the facility was being designed with the safety and welfare of the youth in detention, the staff and the surrounding community in mind, and noted that even the fencing that would surround the facility had been selected with the community in mind so that it would provide protection that was also aesthetically pleasing to the nearby residents.

Mayor Welch was introduced next. He began by saying that he wanted to acknowledge and thank the alderpersons and other city officials and staff in the gathering.

Those that were present included aldermen Sam Downs and Craig Eimer, alderwomen Robin McClallen and Wanda Lee Rohlfs, City Clerk Peggy Bateman, and Wastewater Treatment Manager Andrew Bowns.

He noted that as mayor, he wanted to give credit to the council members who are the ones who speak for the residents of the city, had talked to many of those residents, and worked with the IDJJ to create a plan that was safe and acceptable. He said the ultimate goal of the city governance is to take care of the people of Lincoln and assure that the best interests of the residents in considered in all situations.

Welch noted that he too was happy to see the IDJJ chose the abandoned LDC campus as it had been vacant for more than two decades and needed to be put to use. He said the project would be a win-win for the city and the IDJJ.

When Welch was finished, Bill Patton returned to the podium to direct the group across the street where shovels waited for the turning of the soil.

Those who were asked to participate in the official groundbreaking included Welch, Burtis, Turner, Mueller, Patton, and Underwood.

The building project is expected to be concluded in the spring of 2024.

[Nila Smith]

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