Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell and Del. Ben Cline, R-Lexington, are scheduled today to attend a meeting in Lexington concerning Gov. Timothy M. Kaine’s proposed closure of the Natural Bridge Juvenile Correctional Center.
The meeting is to take place between noon and 1:30 p.m. at the Effinger Volunteer Fire Department at 2824 Collierstown Road.
The closure, part of Kaine’s $1.35 billion in budget cuts announced Tuesday, means the loss of 95 full-time and six part-time jobs at the center, according to Rockbridge County administrator Claire Collins. The center houses males 14 to 20 and is scheduled to close Oct. 9.
Camp New Hope, part of the center, was closed earlier this year in another round of budget cuts. Kaine’s budget reduction plan says there will be 68 layoffs and nearly $1.2 million in savings. The state also plans to sell the facility.
Collins said officials there are hoping it can somehow stay open.
The center, located six miles east of the Natural Bridge on 100 acres in the Jefferson National Forest in southern Rockbridge County, is a model for reducing recidivism rates for youths, Collins said. It has been open for more than 40 years and is one of just seven such centers overall, and one of two west of the Richmond region. The other is in Culpeper.
Washington & Lee University, Southern Virginia University and Liberty University provide volunteer services to the center. Collins said that equates to more than $100,000 in volunteer time annually.
“It has more significant impact than just an economic impact,” Collins said. “It has total community impact based on the partnership the center had with the total community.”
The center makes its purchases in the area, and most of the employees are from the immediate area surrounding it, Collins said.
The Rockbridge County Board of Supervisors is expected take up a resolution at its Monday meeting urging Kaine to keep the center open.
“There have been e-mails to the governor, not just asking to rescind, but also begging for, recension of this planned closure,” Collins said.
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