Preparations are underway for a new Berrien County Juvenile Center. At a meeting of the Berrien County Board of Commissioners Thursday, Commissioner Jim Curran said contractors will begin working on a site plan Monday. The intent is to build a new center on Napier Avenue near the health department and animal control.
“Basically, Wightman and DLR are going to spend three days,” Curran said. “The first day is basically the scope of the work, what they need to look at, what they need to do. The other two days are actually touring the facilities and looking at the property on Napier so that they can prepare a report for us to see what it’s going to take out at the Berrien Center site and the space requirements on Napier. How much land is being proposed to build that building.”
County Administrator Brian Dissette said Wightman and DLR are the contractors working on the site plan. The county needs to build a new juvenile center as the current one in Berrien Center is aging and lacks the capacity to hold enough juveniles. The county has had to send some to other counties. Dissette said the project “is moving.”
