Low Bid Adds Value to Juvenile Justice Complex

When it opens in 2003, Ventura County’s $65-million juvenile justice center will include a gymnasium and high-tech vocational training center--two features that officials anticipated having to cut amid rising construction costs.

Chief probation officer Cal Remington announced Wednesday that the lowest bid on the entire project came in about $43.2 million. That is just $91,000 over the $43.1-million construction allocation, which initially excluded the gym and training center. Most of the bill will be paid with a $40.5-million state grant, and the county will cover the rest.

“It’s been a long cliffhanger,” said Supervisor Judy Mikels, who has pushed for the complex since she was elected in 1994. “We all just sat around biting our fingernails and praying we would get good bids. It’s so exciting that the whole project will get done.”

On Tuesday, the county Board of Supervisors is expected to accept the low bid from the Costa Mesa-based S.J. Amoroso Construction Co., which would start building the complex June 26, Remington said. A ceremonial groundbreaking, to which the public in invited, is scheduled June 22 at 2 p.m.

The new center will house 420 juvenile offenders in a central detention facility and three camps, replacing the outdated, 84-bed juvenile hall on Hillmont Avenue in Ventura and centralizing services scattered across the county.

The complex, on a 45-acre parcel in El Rio, will also include administrative offices for all related staff members, six juvenile courtrooms and several classrooms.

Although cities and counties across the state are rebuilding or expanding antiquated, overcrowded juvenile facilities, the local complex is among the first of its kind in scope.

Ventura County officials last fall estimated that they would have to scale back the project by about 10%, based on assumptions that spiraling construction costs would push it over the $43.1-million cost.

Karen Staples, chief deputy for special projects with the probation agency, said a slowing economy and a well-designed project can probably be credited for the lower-than-expected bid.

Project proponents are thrilled because they believe the gymnasium--which will be used for recreation and assemblies--and the innovative high-tech center are essential for getting troubled kids back on track.

Staples said the high-tech center will enable offenders serving time in the on-site treatment facilities to complete vocational training in fields ranging from auto mechanics to electrical wiring.

“I was so excited last week, I couldn’t stand myself,” she said.