The Hennepin County Board's key mental health initiative — to create secure psychiatric beds at the county's adult correctional facility in Plymouth — has been put on hold.
The board approved $200,000 last summer to study the feasibility of converting an abandoned building at the facility, better known as the county workhouse, for residents or inmates unable to find a secure bed at the Anoka-Metro Regional Treatment Center, ready to leave the county jail or being kept temporarily at HCMC.
The board had earmarked nearly $13 million for the Mental Health Stabilization Center. But this month the board was told that the configuration of the vacant building would make the project too expensive, said Commissioner Mike Opat. The building also didn't offer good sightlines for monitoring residents, he said.
"The project has been put on pause right now," Opat said. "Because of the general condition of the facility and how it's laid out, our original plan isn't going to be compatible."
County Administrator David Hough said although the estimated cost of building the center at the workhouse was a little more than he expected, the facility was still in the mix. He has met with the architect firm that evaluated the workhouse and is asking the county's facility services staff to come up with options and recommendations.
"This is still a priority for us," he said. "The workhouse is still a potential solution, but we aren't wedded to it."
Plans for the new facility have been discussed by the board for more than a year and a half. The concept was first pitched by former Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek as part of a five-point comprehensive plan to help those dealing with mental illness.
It focused on the long-shuttered work-release building on the workhouse site, a 1970s-era building that once housed 165 inmates. It was originally thought that a large portion of the $13 million budget would go toward updating the building's plumbing, heating and air conditioning.
