The new complex is expected to open in 2010.
By Joe Guillen
Cleveland Plain Dealer
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Cuyahoga County awarded $40 million in contracts Thursday to build a juvenile justice complex on the East Side of Cleveland - a project 20 years in the making.
Construction of the $160 million juvenile justice center, including a new detention center and a court complex, is scheduled to begin in May. The new complex is expected to open in 2010.
The county will issue bonds to pay for the project. More contracts will be awarded this spring.
The county’s current juvenile facilities are cramped and outdated. An East 22nd Street detention center, built to house about 80 children, had 193 inmates Thursday morning, Juvenile Court Administrator Ken Lusnia said.
Planning for new facilities began in the late 1980s. Commissioners and Juvenile Court judges considered more than 30 locations before deciding in 2000 to buy 13 acres at East 93rd Street and Quincy Avenue for $2.7 million.
Construction plans stalled after the purchase because judges didn’t want to move from their downtown court. However, an agreement was reached in August 2006.
All six contracts awarded at Thursday’s county commissioners meeting went to either the lowest or only bidder and met requirements to subcontract with small businesses.
Here’s a breakdown:
$14.3 million to Smith & Oby Co. of Walton Hills for heating, vent and air conditioning work.
$11.9 million to Lake Erie Electric of Westlake for electrical work.
$8.9 million to West Third Street Construction of Cleveland for masonry.
$4.6 million to Phoenix Cement of Berea for concrete.
$672,000 to Commercial Appliance Contracts of Grove City, Pa., for kitchen equipment.
$133,000 to Perk Co. of Cleveland for sidewalks.
Four of the six contractors are required to award 30 percent of the work to qualified small businesses. The masonry contractor must award 10 percent of the work to small businesses. The county waived the small-business requirement for the kitchen contractor.
The county imposed the hiring requirements to give minority- and women-owned businesses a share of the work. Deputy County Administrator Lee Trotter said the county went “much further than we’ve traditionally gone” to promote diversity.
Trotter said the county will monitor construction to make sure hiring goals are met.
Commissioner Tim Hagan stressed favoritism played no role in awarding the contracts. “None of us are going to jail on our effort to make this work,” he said.
Copyright 2008 The Cleveland Plain Dealer