Planners for new ACCS building prioritize aesthetics, lighting, space

A project that began to be conceptualized in 2014 took form during a two-hour listening session held Thursday evening in the Athens Public Library conference room. Project planners with BDT Architects unveiled their model design with renderings for a $13 million, bond-financed building to be constructed for Athens County Children Services on its large Stonybrook Drive property.

Describing the forthcoming project — and its Mass Timber construction system consisting of strips of wood laminated together to form large structural elements — were W. Otis Crockron Jr., ACCS executive director; Matthew Starkey, ACCS public information officer and community events coordinator; Don Dispenza, senior principal architect with BDT Architects; and Allison Summers, project designer and also with BDT.

BDT Architects maintains offices in Athens and Columbus.

The new building, which will consist of three separate structures connected with walkways, will replace four two-story residential homes originally built in 1972 to house children placed by Athens County Juvenile Court. The buildings currently house ACCS offices, work spaces, visitation rooms, observation rooms and other amenities. But they are wrought with problems, Crockron and Dispenza both emphasized, including tight spaces with low ceilings, heating and ventilating problems, insufficient lighting, drainage issues and overall insufficient space.

ACCS has grown in the number of foster children served over the years, with 143 children currently in foster care in Athens County. ACCS also provides adoption services. A total of 191 children were placed in ACCS custody at various points throughout the year in 2023, a number officially placed at 145, Starkey said.

“Our buildings no longer meet the operational needs that we have,” Crockron offered.

Crockron added that the existing buildings are planned to be razed while two of them — building 18 with staff offices and supervised visitation rooms, and building 22, where the administrative team works — will remain functional while the new building and its three connected structures are being built.

ACCS provided a Facilities Study and Capital Improvement Concerns report, citing that:

Referrals of child abuse/neglect in Athens County grew from 1,430 in 2008 to 2,647 in in 2024 to date, an increase of 85%.Children placed in ACCS custody grew from 70 in 2008 to 145 in 2024.Number of ACCS staff grew from 72 in 2008 to 96 in 2024.

Offering a timeline, Starkey said a solicitation for bids will occur late in the year, with the project to break ground around February 2025. If a projected 18-month construction schedule proceeds without delays, a “new, modern campus” for Athens County Child Services would open in the summer of 2026.

Up to $13 million in general obligation bond financing has been secured, Crockron said, and those bonds will not come out of the county’s debt limit. Starkey noted that ACCS placed $2.5 million into a capital reserve account to help service the bond debt if that becomes necessary.

Dispenza said the new building and its three connected structures will be built with natural Mass Timber system elements, made of laminated southern pine and fir wood, that matches an already beautiful Stonybrook Drive property that includes a quarter-mile long walking path weaving in and out of a wooded area. The Mass Timber pieces have a low-carbon footprint in terms of the environmental and constructions cost of producing them compared to steel or reinforced concrete. The pre-fabricated pieces will be trucked in from Toronto, Canada, where the laminations occur, while the wood likely comes from northern US states. The Mass Timber Construction System has been prevalent in building projects in the western United States for about the past 20 years, but is now becoming more popular nationwide, Dispenza said.

Mass Timber framing provides large spans with engineered woods and trusses that is inherently fire resistant, according to a project description, while allowing for faster construction. The wood is also highly durable with a strong strength to weight ratio. The total project will contain about 25,000 square feet of space.

“You don’t need to have columns to hold it up,” Crockron said.

The first of the three new structures, the only housed on one floor, will offer six visiting rooms where parents, including foster parents and natural parents, can meet with children. Four of those six rooms will be twice the size of the existing four visiting rooms at ACCS, Summers said.

The middle structure and its large atrium will demonstrate how high ceilings allowing for an abundance of natural light will be a project highlight, Dispenza said. This middle structure will provide the main entrance into the atrium on its ground floor, along with work spaces for staff, and interview and observation rooms. There will also be a large conference room. Its upper floor will contain small conference rooms, medium-sized conference rooms, a lunch room, board room, staircase and an elevator.

The southern-most of the three connected structures will house staff work spaces on the lower floor, and administrative offices on the upper floor including Crockron’s office, and next to it, Starkey’s office. Starkey said the overall design will follow the slope of the hill. Outside, children will be able to interact within a Natural Playscape Concept, which uses materials like wood, sand, stone and grass to immerse them in nature and encourage hands-on learning.

Last year, Starkey said ACCS served 191 foster children placed there throughout different times of the year. An assessment unit team investigates potential cases of abuse and neglect, with children then served by a screening team. There are any number of reasons children are placed by the Juvenile Court into the custody of ACCS as foster children, which can include socioeconomic factors. More than 40 families currently work with ACCS to provide homes for foster children.

“Whenever possible we try to reunify children with their families,” Starkey said.

There are cases in which the placement of children involves permanent placement needs beyond foster care, Starkey said. In those cases, adoptions become a priority, with 20 adoptions handled by ACCS last year.

“We have an amazing adoption team,” Starkey offered. He added that although local placements are sought, there are times when children are adopted by prospective parents living outside of Athens County.

One advantage ACCS has over other children services agencies throughout Ohio is not having to place children overnight within their facility, which can be a traumatic experience for children and their families, Starkey and Crockron both noted. In Cuyahoga County, as many as 16 children have to spend time overnight in a facility. And although that is not expected to happen when the new ACCS building is completed, Crockron said, it will be equipped to handle such a scenario if it were to happen.

“Across the state, we have a massive (foster child) placement crisis,” Starkey said.

Just one member of the public attended Thursday’s listening session. Chris Owens, a community member, said he was highly impressed with the new ACCS building plan and its emphasis on natural light and aesthetics, but even more so its consideration for the wellness of children who have experienced psychological trauma.

“I think they designed this with intentionality for (the children’s) benefit,” Owens said.

Starkey offered that the reason for the low meeting turnout was likely attributable to ACCS staff having already voiced their concerns about existing ACCS buildings, which were passed along to Dispenza when he surveyed them prior to the conceptualized project. Conceptualization began in 2014.