Published: June 27, 2009 09:18 pm      

Floyd County Youth Shelter’s future still ‘a priority’

Commissioners to study sites for new shelter

This was supposed to be the year the new Floyd County Youth Shelter would be taking shape along Grant Line Road. Plans were OK, financing was set and a ground-breaking ceremony was scheduled.

Then, the economy went south. And it took the plans for the shelter with it.

“We were so close,” said Youth Shelter Executive Director Leah Pezzarossi.

While those original plans are gone, the shelter’s future is still a priority, according to Floyd County Commissioner Steve Bush. He said something has to get done in order to get the shelter out of the North Annex, which Pezzarossi says continues to deteriorate.

Pezzarossi and county planner Don Lopp have been working together for the past few months looking at possible new locations for the shelter. She said 10 sites have been studied. One of those sites, according to Bush, is the M.L. Reisz Building along Spring Street, which currently houses government offices.

“We have been looking at different options. Nothing is going to be an easy fit because of the renovations that will have to be done to the buildings,” Pezzarossi said.

She said more than 300 kids in 2008 came through the shelter, which can hold up to 18 youths and averages about 12 to 14 daily.

The kids at the shelter come from broken homes or have had problems with truancy or running away from home.

The shelter’s North Annex location and the property it sits on has been appraised for $6 million. The county said the property is for sale, and there has been some interest.

That money could be used to help refurbish a building or build a new scaled-down youth shelter.

“We are looking at different locations to see what is best for the youth shelter and for Floyd County,” Bush said.

Bush said a lot will depend on what the county can afford.

Pezzarossi — who continues to seek grants to help offset the cost of a new shelter — said the heavy rains this month have not helped the overall health of the North Annex building.

“This building is just so hard to maintain,” she said. “It leaks like crazy all over the place.”

Once the commissioners receive a report from Pezzarossi and Lopp, they will begin looking at the different options available. It can’t be too soon for Pezzarossi.

“Right now, there are just a lot of ifs,” she said.