SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) - An organization that offers mental health services for children has announced plans for a new $6 million behavioral health campus in western Iowa.
The plans were announced Thursday by officials with the Boys and Girls Home and Family Services. The organization said the new site in Sioux City will be completed in three phases over the next four years.
The nonprofit has struggled to maintain and upgrade aging infrastructure on its main Sioux City campus, where some portions were built in 1913, the Sioux City Journal reported . The board of directors wanted a new location that would be more cost effective and offer a more “campus-like” setting, said Art Silva, the organization’s executive director and CEO.
The organization offers treatment for children and adults with emotional, behavioral or psychiatric issues that are caused by physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, mental health issues or severe family dysfunction.
The project will begin with the construction of a large school that will provide individual education to children ages 5 to 18. The building will have 10 classrooms, a recreation and conference center, library, media center and auditorium.
The second phase will involve renovating a two-story building into a family services center, which will provide outpatient counseling. The organization could move into the building as early as January 2019, Silva said.
A residential treatment center will be built during the final phase of construction. It will have living quarters for children ages 7 to 18, a recreation area and residential staff offices.
The campus will be built at the site of the once-thriving Indian Hills shopping center, where the number of tenants has dwindled over the last few years as larger retail developments have grown in the area. Construction will begin as existing leases in the shopping center expire.
About $3 million has been raised for the project, including a $350,000 grant from Tyson Foods.
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Information from: Sioux City Journal, https://www.siouxcityjournal.com
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