ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, October 30, 1996 TAG: 9610300036
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: ROBERT FREIS STAFF WRITER
A Colorado company is interested in setting up a residential "boot camp" for male juvenile delinquents at an unused portion of the Radford Army Ammunition Plant in Montgomery County.
Rebound, a private, Denver-based firm that specializes in rehabilitating what it calls "early stage" law breakers, would operate the camp jointly with the state and Alliant Techsystems, Jane O'Shaughnessy said.
The company proposes renovating barracks on the property into a 50-bed facility that would house first-time, nonviolent adolescent offenders, said O'Shaughnessy, who is Rebound's chief executive officer.
The youths would receive both classroom and physical training under 24-hour supervision of Rebound's counselors. Security would be enhanced by building a fence around the camp's site, she added.
The exact proposed location at the arsenal was unclear Tuesday. However, Don Moore, Montgomery County's economic development director, said his understanding was that the site would be in the main grounds of the arsenal, located in Montgomery County between Peppers Ferry Road and the New River.
Between 30 to 35 new jobs would be created if the camp is built, O'Shaughnessy estimated.
At present, Rebound's proposal is nothing more than that. No agreements have been reached among the parties involved, she said.
However, the concept of a youth boot camp at the arsenal property has received the endorsement of Radford City Council. On Monday, council voted unanimously to recommend building the camp.
"That endorsement is a key," O'Shaughnessy said. Other local governing bodies also will be asked to support the project, she added.
Rebound has been in business since 1988, she said. The company operates private correctional facilities for youth in Colorado and Florida. The Colorado camp will be used as a model if the company is allowed to build here, she said.
O'Shaughnessy said Rebound's programs respond to trends in the corrections industry, which is seeing more privately operated facilities and more residential boot camps for youth and adult criminals.
She said the programs have experienced "very positive outcomes" and had no safety problems.
The company would like to build two facilities in Virginia, one strictly for boys at the Radford arsenal site and another for boys and girls at a location elsewhere that hasn't been determined, O'Shaughnessy said.
Rebound hopes to use federal money that is available to businesses interested in relocating to unused property on the site of large federal installations such as the Radford Army Ammunition Plant.
The arsenal, once the New River Valley's largest employer, has shrunk significantly over the past several years, and has both land and buildings to spare.
Alliant Techsystems, the arsenal's private commercial operator, has recently steered several other businesses to the site, including companies that manufacture fireworks and chemical explosives.
Officials of Alliant could not be reached to comment on Rebound's proposal for a boot camp on the site.
Staff writer Leslie Hager-Smith contributed information to this story.
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