New Oklahoma Juvenile Facilities Creates More Than 100 Jobs

News9.com

ADA, Oklahoma -- More jobs are coming to a southeastern Oklahoma town, which could bring in half a million dollars in sales tax revenue. 

A new juvenile youth academy will be setting up shop in Ada and will open around July 1, 2012.

A press release from Ada Jobs Foundation stated the proposal included a 144 bed academic campus, which will be located on 65 acres in Ada. The facility will be modeled after a high school with dorms, including career training to prepare troubled youth for the real world.

"They will be prepared to move from the juvenile system to our society, and that's the kind of juvenile system we want to provide," said Greg Pierce, chairman of the Ada Youth Academy Authority.

The facility will be fenceless, meaning there will be razor wires.

The Office of Juvenile Affairs will sign the contract on December 6 and if everything work out, construction is scheduled to begin as early as next spring.

Plans are also in the works for a maximum security bed facility to be built on the grounds on Central Oklahoma Juvenile Center in Tecumseh.

The Oklahoma Office of Juvenile Affairs said building and operating the centers should cost about $10 million annually.

"We are excited to bring an innovative project to the Ada area that will create 110 quality jobs with an average salary of $43,000," Pierce said. Pierce,