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Addition is given ceremonial groundbreaking
Photo
PAST AND PRESENT: Judge Theresa Dellick, center, of Mahoning County Juvenile Court, poses with Betty Joyce, left, and Linda McNally at a groundbreaking ceremony for an addition at the Martin P. Joyce Juvenile Justice Center in Youngstown. Mrs. Joyce’s late husband, Judge Martin P. Joyce, for whom the building was renamed, and Mrs. McNally’s late husband, Judge James McNally, are the only other judges to serve at the JJC, which opened in 1979 on East Scott Street and replaced the Juvenile Research Center on Parkwood Avenue.
The building addition should be completed by January.
YOUNGSTOWN — Those working in the Martin P. Joyce Juvenile Justice Center on Scott Street soon will have some much- needed additional space.
Judge Theresa Dellick of Mahoning County Juvenile Court and a host of employees, advisory board members and public officials attended a groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday for a 3,000-square-foot addition to the building.
The addition to the south side of the facility is slated to cost about $440,000. Anthony D’Apolito, court administrator, said the building addition should be completed by January.
D’Apolito said the January completion date cannot come fast enough for employees in the juvenile-court building. He said office and other usable space is practically impossible to find.
“We were creating offices in hallways,” D’Apolito said. “This was done out of necessity in that Judge Dellick has implemented many new programs, and for the court to continue providing the services to the public efficiently and effectively, this addition was necessary.”
The addition will include space for seven offices and one main courtroom. That courtroom also will double as a meeting room.
Judge Dellick said the addition will go a long way toward meeting space needs of the court, which now operates with three part-time magistrates and four full-time magistrates in addition to the judge. She said the building addition has been in the making for 20 years.
The judge said county officials secured about $500,000 for the project about six years ago and has had that money set aside since that time.
D’Apolito said the $500,000 was set aside as special-project funding. He said it is important to note that once the funds had been designated as special-project funds, the money could not be used for any other purpose.
D’Apolito said the project has taken several years to move forward because officials have been trying to determine the best means of using the funds to solve the court’s space problem.
Officials considered a stand-alone building at a cost of about $250,000, but that structure had a lifespan of only about 10 years. Officials also considered adding an additional floor to the building at a cost of about $2 million, but ultimately decided on the first-floor addition.
Judge Dellick said the expansion project had to go through a number of routine steps, adding to the time before construction could begin.
One step came when court officials were concerned about an old tree on property adjoining the court’s proposed expansion site. There was no quick fix since officials discovered the property belonged to an absentee landowner.
The addition will bring new security arrangements to the overall court that include separate entrances for court workers and the public.
Now, families and youths are let into traffic court in groups. Under the changes, adults and youths will go into court at one time.
Juvenile court handles about 2,700 juvenile traffic cases a year.
jgoodwin@vindy.com