$15.5M juvenile detention center proposed next to Cary Home

County preparing vote on contracts to design a facility that has been contemplated for decades. Plus, rezoning stalled on truck stop at an I-65 exit in Lafayette. WL schools OK pre-K pilot program

• Thanks to sponsor of today’s edition, The Purdue Student Farm. The Purdue Student Farm is a living laboratory based out of the Horticulture and Landscape Architecture Department that is focused on immersive hands-on learning through undergraduate classes and a robust internship program. Along with teaching, the farm hosts research projects, extension events and myriad visiting groups throughout the year. The Boilermaker Vegetable Season Pass is a way for the farm to sell the vegetables grown to the local community while giving our students a real look at what it takes to grow and sell a highly diverse mix of crops. For details, go to Boiler Vegetable Season Pass or check/click the flyer below.

Click here to sign up

---

$15.5M JUVENILE DETENTION CENTER PROPOSED NEXT TO CARY HOME

A juvenile detention facility, talked about for decades in Tippecanoe County, will be back in play next week, when county commissioners consider a pair of contracts to design a 24-bed facility next to Cary Home for Children, along South 18^th Street.

“We’ve been talking about this for a long time,” Commissioner David Byers said this week. “We feel now’s the time.”

According to drawings and cost charts in contracts being considered Monday, the facility would have four pods with a total of 24 beds in either 16,000- or 20,000-square-foot configurations just south of Cary Home, which offers residential and treatment services for youth.

Preliminary drawings show a juvenile detention center would go just south of Cary Home, along South 18th Street.

Byers said the hope is to get firm designs from Indianapolis-based consulting firm DLZ Indiana in about six months and consider calling for construction bids in the first quarter of 2025. The county commissioners on Monday also will look at a contract with Lafayette-based Tecton Construction Management to manage the project.

“This one, we’re trying to keep it really plain, very simple and do what it’s supposed to do,” Byers said.