Site on Milwaukee's northwest side would replace Lincoln Hills under plan from Gov. Tony Evers

Gov. Tony Evers on Tuesday announced plans to build a new youth prison on Milwaukee's northwest side, heralding it as a "major step" toward closing Lincoln Hills School for Boys and Copper Lake School for Girls.

Lawmakers have long struggled to close the problem-plagued youth prison, located on a joint campus 30 miles north of Wausau. It houses young people with the highest needs who have committed serious crimes or are repeat offenders.

"Today's important announcement means we are one major step closer to getting kids out of these facilities, and we are incredibly grateful that the city of Milwaukee recognizes the importance of moving forward to do just that," Evers said in a statement.

The Common Council is expected to vote on the proposed site at a special meeting Friday. The site, which would be run by the state, must have the city's support to move forward under a state law that approved $42 million for the new facility.

Evers said it would be located at 7930 W. Clinton Ave., a light industrial area in a district without a Common Council representative. Ald. Chantia Lewis was removed from office as part of a plea deal related to misconduct in office last month.

"The city of Milwaukee recognizes the incredible importance of not allowing delays in this project and the end goal of bringing kids closer to home," Common Council President José Pérez said in the press release.

Several steps remain before construction may begin on the new youth prison, including public hearings, local plan and rezoning approval by the city, and notification to the state Legislature's Joint Committee on Finance, according to the statement from the governor's office.

The announcement comes a few months before Evers, a Democrat, will face the Republican candidate for governor, whom voters were going to the polls to choose Tuesday.

The closure of Lincoln Hills would fulfill a promise by Evers and his predecessor, Republican Scott Walker, to shutter the youth prison in Irma and bring the young people held there — most of whom are from Milwaukee County — closer to home.

State Sen. Lena Taylor, D-Milwaukee, said the move would improve youth corrections in the state.

"We are uniquely positioned to house this facility. We can bring these youth closer to home and provide them the rehabilitative services they need," she said in the statement.

The proposed location was a relief to some who had pushed state leaders to reconsider their earlier plan to replace the Felmers O. Chaney Correctional Center — a state-run facility on Milwaukee's north side for men nearing the end of their prison sentences — with the youth prison.

Rev. Joseph Ellwanger, a retired pastor who ministers to some of the men at the Chaney Center, said he is grateful that state leaders chose the site on West Clinton Avenue.

"(We’re) grateful that the (state Department of Corrections) saw the value of the Chaney Center's program continuing and not having any kind of temporary or permanent halt to a good program that's working with restorative justice principles helping men to get back to their families and their communities," he said.

The Felmers Chaney Advocacy Board, a group of private citizens not affiliated with the state Department of Corrections, sought to protect the Chaney Center, which they consider vital to help men successfully reintegrate back into society. Members of the group collected signatures from people opposed to the plan, participated in protests outside the center, testified before state legislators and compiled a list of alternative sites for the prison.

One of their suggested sites was the West Clinton Avenue location ultimately chosen by state officials.

According to the statement, state leaders began evaluating other possible sites in February, in response to pushback from local groups and concerns raised by the city. The Felmers Chaney Advocacy Board and local religious and prisoner rights groups led the opposition.

Last month, the state entered into an agreement to purchase the West Clinton Avenue site provided that other conditions are met.

Where the new prison would be located has long been a point of contention in the overdue process of closing Lincoln Hills.

More: Lincoln Hills juvenile prison was set to close in July 2021. So why are judges still sending children there?

State lawmakers promised to close Lincoln Hills more than four years ago, in response to dangerous conditions that persisted for years at the prison and made it an unsafe environment for both staff and the young people incarcerated there. The state has paid more than $25 million in settlement and legal fees. 

More: A law calls for a new youth prison in Milwaukee County. Why isn't the location settled?

The plan was to replace Lincoln Hills by 2021 with smaller, regional facilities — some run by the state and others by counties — but those haven't been built. State-run facilities would be responsible for the most serious juvenile offenders and county-run facilities for youths who committed lower-level offenses.

A committee created by state lawmakers and tasked with selecting a site for the youth prison in Milwaukee unanimously recommended a site at 7301 W. Mill Road in 2018. But the site faced opposition from some city officials and area businesses and was ultimately rejected.

Then, state officials proposed a site on Teutonia Avenue, just north of West Mill Road near the border with Glendale, but that idea too was met with vocal opposition from Glendale officials and nearby residents. Ultimately, the Joint Finance Committee denied funding for the project.

The news about the state-run facility comes as Milwaukee County is under pressure to find alternatives to sending its young people to Lincoln Hills and as it considers the future of a separate secure, county-run residential care center that has been on hold for two years.

The center would be for youths at Lincoln Hills who committed lower-level offenses.

Expansion of the Mendota Juvenile Treatment Center in Madison is also underway and is considered key to closing Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake. The center will be able to house girls for the first time when it opens in the coming years.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee site would replace Lincoln Hills juvenile prison in new plan