Local Community Corrections Facility Planning 2019 Opening

WPA Buildings on East Maple Street

Doug Carrigan, CEO of ATC, Advantage Treatment Center in Sterling, Colorado, attended the 15^th Judicial Community Corrections Board meeting this past Monday, December 3^rd in Lamar.  The organization discussed the make-up of the screening board and the criteria which will select the residents to be housed in the corrections facility being developed at the former WPA buildings on East Maple Street in Lamar.

New Roof at East Maple WPA Site

The facility has been under consideration by Carrigan for the past two years, once he took ownership of the buildings on approximately 3.5 acres of land previously owned by Prowers County. Carrigan plans to hold an open house for the community sometime in early February of next year, once the initial construction phase of the corrections facility is complete.  “The open house will show the community what’s being done here and it will be a chance to answer questions from the townspeople and offer my thanks to the community members for their assistance and to Byron Hall from the Probation Office for his assistance.  I’d also like to have a Father present to offer blessings on our program,” Carrigan explained.

He said from 45 to 50 job applications have been received to date and they will be screened by Josh Goldberg who will manage the facility. The two front wings of the sandstone buildings have been repurposed over the past several months to hold offices, a break room and cafeteria facilities in the northwest corner and residences will be in the northeast corner as you face the buildings from East Maple Street.  The facility will not be enclosed in a fence, but there will be bed checks for the residents and administration staff will be on site 24/7.

Carrigan held several public forums two years ago, acquainting the community with the corrections program which allows local residents who are in the corrections system, to complete their legal commitment in their own community. Initially, he also went door to door to explain the program to area residents adjacent to the WPA buildings, informing them of his future plans.  The staff, he explained, will also be as local as possible and will be credentialed through the ATC program under Department of Corrections guidelines.  The East Maple Street facility will hold 47 residents to begin with, and of those, 12 units will be set aside for female residents.  The residents will receive random drug testing and will be encouraged to seek out jobs in the community for any restitution they may owe and to begin to develop their own bank account once they’ve been released.

By Russ Baldwin