Earle Dodd | Williston Herald Marsha Hughes, administrator of the Northwest Youth Assessment Center in Williston, shows the floor plan for a new facility for the assessment center. It‘s now housed in the old Williams County Law Enforcement Center building and Hughes hopes it can move soon for more space.
Only three agencies remain in the building”North Dakota Protection and Advocacy Project, Juvenile Court and Northwest Youth Assessment Center. And representatives of the agencies are looking forward to leaving as well.
Janelle Olson, disabilities advocate for Protection and Advocacy, is anxious to move.
“It has been very strange to be left behind,” Olson said.
Protection and Advocacy, an independent agency that protects and advocates for the rights of people with disabilities, has rented space in the old LEC for more than 17 years, Olson said. It once housed the Good Samaritan Hospital.
“I’m one of few people who can say I work in the building I was born in,” Olson said.
The former LEC is known for problems that come with an aging facility: leaks, corrosion, plumbing issues and exposed wiring. Half of the existing structure, located on 4th Ave. E., was built in 1928, and the other half was built in 1953.
When they moved, representatives of the Williams County Sheriff’s Office and Williston Police Department were excited about having plenty of space in a new building. Marsha Hughes, administrator of the Northwest Youth Assessment Center, is ready for more space as well.
The assessment center has room for only 11 children and one room that’s used for visitation, tutoring and meals. Food has to be brought in from the courthouse cafe because there isn’t room for a full kitchen, Hughes said.
“This one is functional, it works,” Hughes said of the old LEC. “But we need more space.”
There are plans for a future home; in fact, a floor plan is drawn up and hanging in Hughes’ office. It calls for 3,900 square feet of space with a kitchen, classroom, conference room, visitation room and ability to hold 25 children.
But there’s a problem”there’s no place to put it. Williams County commissioners have been looking for a lot to relocate the assessment center for the past 18 months without any luck thus far, Hughes said.
“We have been looking for a location within walking distance of the high school and middle school,” said Dan Kalil, chairman of the commission said.
Northwest Youth Assessment Center provides routine care on a daily basis for youth ages 12-17 while they’re awaiting assessments, court hearings or other placement options.
Protection and Advocacy has somewhere to go, but it isn’t ready yet, Olson said. It is moving into the former Formal Affair building on 14 E. Broadway Ave. when the building is ready. It’s owned by John Hamilton, and he’s busy fixing it up, she said.
“We’ll move hopefully sooner than later,” said Olson, who is excited about the new building.
“We were very fortunate to get it. We’ve had a very difficult time finding space in Williston,” Olson said, adding one of the issues was finding a building that was compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Juvenile Court knows where it’s moving, but doesn’t know when.
Chris Myers, director of Juvenile Court’s for northwestern North Dakota, said the time frame of moving is “up in the air,” although it should be moved by June.
The plan is to relocate the Juvenile Court to the second floor of the courthouse, by the state’s attorney’s office.
It’ll be nice to be in the courthouse, Myers said.
“Most of our business is handled there at the courthouse,” Myers added.
“Now you’ve got to drive over there, it takes time.”
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