Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2000 | 10:46 a.m.
The first of five new juvenile detention cottages opened Tuesday next to the Family Court building on Pecos Road.
The five cottages add 120 new beds to the juvenile detention system. The Clark County Family and Youth Services Department hopes to have all of the cottages complete by January.
Growth in the Las Vegas Valley created the need for the new beds. Zenoff Hall, built in the late 1970s, increased the juvenile detention capacity to 100 beds, but growth during the past 20 years necessitated more room.
Youths were being housed at Zenoff Hall three or four to a room, said Al Crosby, manager of the detention center.
"That's not safe," Crosby said.
When all five cottages are complete, there will be a total of 230 beds.
The hope now is that the Las Vegas Valley will never need more than 230 beds. Officials working with juveniles said they hope that job-training and other educational programs for youths will keep the numbers of youths needing detention at that level or lower.
It has taken six years of planning and building and $26.5 million to construct the cottages.
All the cottages are the same. On the outside, they look like office buildings that might be found in an industrial park. Inside they have many of the standard trappings of a jail, including bunks and toilets in small cells and community showers and sinks.
Inside it almost looks like a dorm with brightly painted walls, carpeted common areas, bookshelves and picnic tables for meals and classrooms.
Each cottage has two sections with 12 single-person cells that are separated by the classrooms and a staff control room.
Four of the cottages will be for boys, and the fifth will be for girls.
The detention cottages' staff will provide programs that teach the children how to deal with life's problems, Crosby said.
"You just can't lock kids up," he said.
In addition to the cottages a new activity center also opened. The activity center has bleachers and a basketball court that can be used for other sports and plays.
This final phase in the expansion of the family and youth services campus comes after the September opening of the Children's Advocacy Center, which serves abused and neglected children.
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