Renovations planned for Juvenile Court building

Jul. 26—ASHTABULA — Renovations are planned for the Ashtabula County Juvenile Court building on Main Avenue, after the county was awarded $800,000 in the state's recent capital budget.

Andrew Misiak, Juvenile Court administrator, said the court was fortunate to receive the money.

"This is our second capital funds, we received $500,000 years ago," he said. Those funds helped to purchase the building.

The $800,000 will be for rehab for the building, Misiak said.

"We have some drawings, we've been discussing a lot with the architechts, going back and forth, nothing finalized on how anything looks yet, but we do have some preliminary drawings, and that's going to help," he said.

The building's parking lot needs repaired, and the building needs to be transformed from an office building to a court complex, Misiak said. He said a focus is creating four courtrooms.

"We have four judicial officers, so each needs a courtroom," Misiak said. He said the former City Council conference room is now serving as a courtroom.

"But it's not set up as it should [be]," he said.

The offices for court clerks are also working with extremely limited space, Misiak said.

"They're really kind of smashed in right now, they need some more room," he said. "So that's my number one priority right now, is getting them set the way they need to be."

Key Bank, which leases space in the building, will have its own entrance when the project is complete, Misiak said.

"We'll have our own entrance, so kind of delineate those two offices," he said. "We're excited for that."

Currently, people wanting to get to the Juvenile Court sometimes have to cut through the Key Bank lobby, depending on which entrance they use to get into the building.

"That cut-through is going to stop, so they're excited about that, I know we're excited about that," Misiak said.

The renovations will also include changes to the layout to allow people to get to one of the courtrooms without walking through another courtroom, he said.

There will likely be two courtrooms on the first floor and two on the second floor.

"It's just making sure we have clear in and out, making sure we're following Supreme Court guidelines and standards, which are pretty easy, nothing crazy," Misiak said. "We're excited to get it moving."

Misiak said he hopes the $800,000 will cover the entire cost of the work.

"Depending on what we finalize the project on, I think it's going to cover all of it," he said. "That's another thing, it won't cost any county dollars. We're not looking to go down to bare bones and rip down all the walls and stuff like that. It's going to be very intentional, we're not going to go down to the studs."

Misiak said a number of the areas to be renovated need very little work.

"The entryways are kind of our most important, and getting Key Bank their own entrance," he said. "So that's going to cost the most. The first floor is where most of the construction will be. But really, the second floor just needs a little bit, the basement doesn't need anything, we're good in the basement."

Misiak said some of the parking lot will not be needed, and will be turned into green space. The rest of the lot will be refinished, he said.

The building itself is structurally sound, but there are some cracks in the facade that need to be repaired, he said.

Misiak hopes to have the final plans signed off on by the end of August, and going out to bid in September.

"Our Court's receipt of these funds from the Ohio General Assembly is proud testament to the innovation and effectiveness of our Juvenile Court's staff, methods and juvenile justice approaches," Juvenile Court Judge Albert Camplese said in a statement. "Our effort to acquire a state-of-the-art juvenile justice facility began nearly ten years ago and these funds will allow our Juvenile Court to remain at the cutting-edge our nation's juvenile justice initiatives.

"More importantly, these funds validate our ongoing commitment to the youth and families of Ashtabula County. We gratefully accept these funds on their behalf. Now, watch us soar!"