Seneca Co. juvenile detention center cornerstone dedication set for today

7/12/2012

TIFFIN -- Seneca County officials plan to dedicate the cornerstone and place a time capsule at 10 a.m. today at the site of the new Seneca County Youth Center.

The county is building a new 24-bed juvenile detention center just south of the Seneca County Sheriff's Office on State Rt. 100 to replace a 1950s facility.

The Ohio Department of Youth Services is contributing $1.8 million toward the project, while the county will pay about $1.3 million.

Ben Yourkvitch, director of the detention center, said construction began March 1, and plans call for the facility to be completed by the end of September.

The new youth center is badly needed, he said, adding that the current detention center is "probably the worst facility in the state."

"This building was built in the late 1950s as an orphanage-foster home," he explained. "In the early '70s, they decided to change it over to a youth center so we have dorm-style rooms as opposed to individual rooms.

"We have group showers as opposed to individual showers," Mr. Yourkvitch said. "We have group restrooms as opposed to individual restrooms. We're not ADA-accessible. We have no inside area for the kids to do rec. One of our classrooms is downstairs. The building is not doing very well."

Mr. Yourkvitch credited Seneca County Juvenile Court Judge Jay Meyer, the county commissioners, and the state with coming together to get the new center built during a tough economy.

In case of rain, the cornerstone dedication will be at the Department of Job and Family Services on Township Road 151.