Building changes at Central Virginia Training Center

By Cynthia Pegram

Published: August 13, 2008

With $43 million to work with, and no new Central Virginia Training Center on the drawing board, officials say it’s time to plan for renovations.

“We’re mapping out a strategic plan,” said Denise Micheletti, director of CVTC, a state residential program for people with intellectual disabilities.

The General Assembly this year allocated the money to CVTC after plans for a new smaller facility fell to soaring costs as well as concerns about how necessary services would be continued.

The downsizing to 300 beds could have put nearly 200 severely disabled people into communities that have limited capacity to accept individuals with multiple disabilities.

A meeting at CVTC with officials from the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services, CVTC administrators, family members of CVTC residents and other stakeholders is on the drawing board for September or October.

From that meeting should emerge a committee to develop a renovation plan and priorities.

Some buildings have nursing home-level beds and have a high short-term use rate. Other building areas need general upgrading. The concept of state-operated group homes is also under discussion, Micheletti told The News & Advance on Tuesday.

The Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services operates 16 facilities, including five residential facilities for people with intellectual disabilities.

CVTC, the state’s largest, has about 460 residents who live in 13 buildings on the CVTC grounds, which stretch from Colony Road to the James River across from Lynchburg.

CVTC, with about 1,400 employees, continues to be Amherst County’s largest employer.

At least five of the residential buildings need renovation because of code violations that include a lack of sprinklers, or partial walls in residents’ living areas, both fire hazards. The low walls are also a privacy concern.

Individual rooms with doors offer much more protection against fire than a large open area with “pony” walls and no individual doors, said Micheletti.

The upgrade of one of those buildings, Building 11, is complete and residents should be in it by September, said Micheletti. The building was constructed in 1951.

CVTC had expected even earlier occupancy since financing came through during Gov. Mark Warner’s term several years ago. However, construction delays affected fire marshal and building inspection schedules, said Micheletti.

Building 11 will be home to the 24 people who moved out for the renovation.

CVTC has 82 buildings, and a number of them have now been emptied even of storage materials.

Micheletti said that as CVTC nears its centennial in 2011, one idea under consideration is the creation of a CVTC museum in one of the oldest empty buildings.

An expansion of hiking trails from Lynchburg through CVTC property in Madison Heights is also under consideration after renovations to living areas is completed, Micheletti said.

Micheletti noted that a museum along the trails would be of interest and attractive to the public.