betrayed_4_life
10-10-2004, 08:19 PM
Boys' center takes another step
MACKAY: Planning commission OKs proposal for psychiatric facility.
By ANNE AURAND
Anchorage Daily News
(Published: October 6, 2004)
Anchorage's Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously agreed to allow a boys' psychiatric treatment center in the MacKay building annex as part of a broader plan to develop senior housing and apartments in the taller MacKay building next door.
The psychiatric center is proposed by developer Mark Marlow and Cornell Companies, a Texas-based company that operates private prisons as well as juvenile treatment facilities.
At a public hearing before the commission Monday night, testimony favored Marlow's proposal, which he and his supporters say will add life into the two buildings that have stood vacant for decades. Some said the residential treatment center is a needed service in Anchorage.
A smaller number were skeptical about how the proposed psychiatric hospital would affect the eastern end of downtown, and some said there are already too many social services in the downtown area.
Marlow requested a conditional use for this 2.4-acre property on Fourth Avenue between Cordova and Denali streets. The approval allows property uses that otherwise would not have been allowed, including hospitals, nursing homes, convalescent homes, medical clinics, senior housing and pharmacies. The boys' center is classified as a hospital for these purposes.
The commission on Monday added some conditions of approval to those already proposed by city planning staff.
Conditions include the three-story annex being filled with a 60-bed adolescent psychiatric hospital for boys between 11 and 17, the 15-floor tower building having four floors of senior housing and senior assisted-living facilities, and the rest of the building housing 100 general-rental apartments. The property will not be used for correctional or detention centers.
Conditions also require that the development be completed by September 2005.
Marlow said leasing the annex to Cornell Companies for the psychiatric center would help him rebuild the adjacent tower.
He is awaiting a commitment from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development to start work on the tower. Marlow said the first job, which can be done during the winter, is to restore sewer, water and heat to the building. That has been done in the annex.
Cornell must now follow through with a state process to acquire a "certificate of need" before it can put in the boys home. The state Health and Human Services Web page says Cornell has applied for the certificate.
A company official said the home could be ready next summer. The company says it will invest $10 million to $12 million in the center.
The facility would be home to up to 60 Alaska boys ages 11 to 17 with mental disabilities and psychiatric and substance-abuse problems. About 450 such youths are getting treatment in the Lower 48, and the company says bringing the kids closer to their families would help them.
Mildred "Milly" Mucha, who spoke in favor of the proposal at Monday's meeting, said the service is needed and the city needs a similar home for girls.
A retired teacher, she said she has worked in drug and alcohol programs in schools here in the past. The people in treatment can be good people, she said, and the neighbors should not worry. Mucha said she would support the center even if it was proposed in her Midtown neighborhood.
"You've got an empty building and people willing to invest and get the thing going," she said, adding, "The builder is going to salvage an eyesore."
Cornell has been pushing a private prison in Alaska, most recently in Whittier. The company has its critics, who point out lawsuits and newspaper stories about abuses or escapes in Cornell-owned facilities.
Dee Hubbard of Sterling has been researching the company since it tried to build a prison near Kenai. She's the president of a Florida-based private prison watchdog group called Private Corrections Institute. The company pays its employees poorly and executives well, she said.
"I don't want Cornell to have its hand on any kids in Anchorage," she said in a phone interview.
She said she agrees that Anchorage needs drug and alcohol treatment for youths but would rather see a publicly run facility, which she said would be more accountable.
Tim Marshall, a regional development director for Cornell, said state-run agencies have as many problems as private ones. He cited a case where girls in a public treatment home in Hawaii were abused and subsequently transferred to a Cornell facility in Salt Lake City for their safety.
He acknowledged that the company has had some problems but said Anchorage, as opposed to a rural location, should be an easy place to find quality employees. Cornell would import employees to train local hires and would recruit nationally if necessary. Employees will earn between $24,000 and $80,000 depending on the position, he said.
"We're here as a resource to the community," Marshall said. "We plan to serve Anchorage youth and families."
Mayor Mark Begich has heard that Cornell has had problems in some facilities.
"On the flip side, I've seen some of their operations, and they seem like well-run organizations," he said. "They've had problems at times but not ones that make me nervous."
MACKAY: Planning commission OKs proposal for psychiatric facility.
By ANNE AURAND
Anchorage Daily News
(Published: October 6, 2004)
Anchorage's Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously agreed to allow a boys' psychiatric treatment center in the MacKay building annex as part of a broader plan to develop senior housing and apartments in the taller MacKay building next door.
The psychiatric center is proposed by developer Mark Marlow and Cornell Companies, a Texas-based company that operates private prisons as well as juvenile treatment facilities.
At a public hearing before the commission Monday night, testimony favored Marlow's proposal, which he and his supporters say will add life into the two buildings that have stood vacant for decades. Some said the residential treatment center is a needed service in Anchorage.
A smaller number were skeptical about how the proposed psychiatric hospital would affect the eastern end of downtown, and some said there are already too many social services in the downtown area.
Marlow requested a conditional use for this 2.4-acre property on Fourth Avenue between Cordova and Denali streets. The approval allows property uses that otherwise would not have been allowed, including hospitals, nursing homes, convalescent homes, medical clinics, senior housing and pharmacies. The boys' center is classified as a hospital for these purposes.
The commission on Monday added some conditions of approval to those already proposed by city planning staff.
Conditions include the three-story annex being filled with a 60-bed adolescent psychiatric hospital for boys between 11 and 17, the 15-floor tower building having four floors of senior housing and senior assisted-living facilities, and the rest of the building housing 100 general-rental apartments. The property will not be used for correctional or detention centers.
Conditions also require that the development be completed by September 2005.
Marlow said leasing the annex to Cornell Companies for the psychiatric center would help him rebuild the adjacent tower.
He is awaiting a commitment from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development to start work on the tower. Marlow said the first job, which can be done during the winter, is to restore sewer, water and heat to the building. That has been done in the annex.
Cornell must now follow through with a state process to acquire a "certificate of need" before it can put in the boys home. The state Health and Human Services Web page says Cornell has applied for the certificate.
A company official said the home could be ready next summer. The company says it will invest $10 million to $12 million in the center.
The facility would be home to up to 60 Alaska boys ages 11 to 17 with mental disabilities and psychiatric and substance-abuse problems. About 450 such youths are getting treatment in the Lower 48, and the company says bringing the kids closer to their families would help them.
Mildred "Milly" Mucha, who spoke in favor of the proposal at Monday's meeting, said the service is needed and the city needs a similar home for girls.
A retired teacher, she said she has worked in drug and alcohol programs in schools here in the past. The people in treatment can be good people, she said, and the neighbors should not worry. Mucha said she would support the center even if it was proposed in her Midtown neighborhood.
"You've got an empty building and people willing to invest and get the thing going," she said, adding, "The builder is going to salvage an eyesore."
Cornell has been pushing a private prison in Alaska, most recently in Whittier. The company has its critics, who point out lawsuits and newspaper stories about abuses or escapes in Cornell-owned facilities.
Dee Hubbard of Sterling has been researching the company since it tried to build a prison near Kenai. She's the president of a Florida-based private prison watchdog group called Private Corrections Institute. The company pays its employees poorly and executives well, she said.
"I don't want Cornell to have its hand on any kids in Anchorage," she said in a phone interview.
She said she agrees that Anchorage needs drug and alcohol treatment for youths but would rather see a publicly run facility, which she said would be more accountable.
Tim Marshall, a regional development director for Cornell, said state-run agencies have as many problems as private ones. He cited a case where girls in a public treatment home in Hawaii were abused and subsequently transferred to a Cornell facility in Salt Lake City for their safety.
He acknowledged that the company has had some problems but said Anchorage, as opposed to a rural location, should be an easy place to find quality employees. Cornell would import employees to train local hires and would recruit nationally if necessary. Employees will earn between $24,000 and $80,000 depending on the position, he said.
"We're here as a resource to the community," Marshall said. "We plan to serve Anchorage youth and families."
Mayor Mark Begich has heard that Cornell has had problems in some facilities.
"On the flip side, I've seen some of their operations, and they seem like well-run organizations," he said. "They've had problems at times but not ones that make me nervous."