From the Aurora Advocate

Carrinton Youth Academy has presented details of their plan to convert the former Geauga Lake hotel to a academic, recreational and clinical treatment center for youth to Aurora’s Planning Commission.

The facility would be supervised by Ohio Department of Youth and Family Services and would house from overflow foster care, abuse, family/community/school problems anxiety disorders  emotional disturbances and just about every other type of diagnosis.

The you would be there only a short time representatives say, a few days or a few  months.

Representative said the facilyt would not be a detention center or court order center for juveniles.

My questions are: will these kids go into the Aurora schools?  What guarantees are there that this facility will not change uses in the future and  become a detriment to the community.  Will these kids be socialized into the community at the movies or other events?  Where do these kids come from? Portage County? Cleveland, Geauga county?

The building will also continue to be run as a hotel. I don’t get it? Who’s going to stay there, their relatives?

The Aurora City council and the Planing Commission need to grant a conditional zoning permit for the property. I hope there will be public opportunities for the community to voice their opinions.

8 Comments on Hotel May become Half-way House for Youth

  1. glguy says:

    wonderful…

  2. whome says:

    how do i register

  3. Kristina says:

    I haven’t gotten a lot of info or emails on this topic, but when I saw this plan in the paper, I have to admit that I sent our councilman a note saying I don’t think this is a good idea. I told him I thought we should use that hotel and pool to create a Rec Center for Aurora. I don’t mind driving to Twinsburg and Macedonia to have my family go to a rec center (and swim lessons).. but I don’t like that my money is going outside of Aurora because we don’t have any sort of rec center.
    I do feel bad for these troubled kids, and they do need something. But I will say that (in my opinion) Aurora City is not ready for this. I have worked with troubled kids and I would love to be able to do more, but I still don’t think that our city is ready for this large responsibility. I have recently pulled my daughter out of Aurora Schools. In fact in the 6 houses right around me that have school aged children, 3 of us have taken our children out of the Aurora school system. If Aurora they can’t handle my 7 year old with minor special needs… then Aurora is not ready for severe children (from outside of Aurora) in any aspect. I pay my taxes, I voted for the school Levy, and yet I now am home-schooling my daughter. Something is wrong … and why do we now want to incorporate more problems? We can’t handle the ones we already have.
    Don’t get me wrong – I am not slamming Aurora – I love my city. The schools are great… for the “norm”, one of my daughters is in Aurora Schools still. We have some of the best teachers of anyone in this country… and I say that because my sister is a teacher in Florida and there is a HUGE difference in what she tells me she deals with. The difference we have discussed are mostly because our parents care enough to jump in and help the school, to teach our kids values, and to be Present in their lives. My sister can not believe the difference between the kids she teaches and their attitudes (and the parent’s attitudes) and what we have in Aurora. So I’m not saying we have it bad, I’m saying we could and should have it better.
    I just feel that we do not have a good handle on our current situation. Let’s use our resources to fix what we already have and improve the things that need it.

  4. A Nonprofit Exec Director says:

    Kristina you obviously don\’t have your fact right and should really find out more before voiceing your opinion. The CRC is NOT going to be using the Aurora schools at all, they are going to have an onsite educational team that is going to teach students online. So your fears about Aurora schools is NOT the issue. I went to the last Planning meeting for Aurora and was embarrassed by the ignorance and not in my town attitude. Everyone is so sure that these kids are going to be bad, just because they have a mental health disorder. I used to work in a mental health facility in Portage County and it\’s amazing how many people we live next to and work with that have a mental illness. I thought we were past this kind of stigma. I do feel there are valid questions to ask, but the citizen of Aurora need to open up their minds and not let fear get the best of them.

  5. Kristina says:

    It’s funny to me how people how have an opinion… but yet don’t want anyone to know WHO they are… will still comment “anonymously”? I’m not at all embarrassed about my opinion, and stated that this was MY own opinion. I never stated that these kids were going to be part of the Aurora Schools system. I said that we have our own problems that have not yet been solved. You missed the point.

    I’m sorry, but Auroran’s ARE NOT at all ignorant… what an insult. Just from your post we can all see that you can’t even bother to use correct grammar. Not an insult again, but an observation. We are some of the most intelligent and courageous people I’ve ever seen in a town. I’m PROUD to be an Auroran and proud that we have the right to voice our opinions.

    The “STIGMA” you have decided my thoughts were about is not at all what I said. It’s that Aurora is not yet prepared to take on this task, as much as I would love to believe we could be. There need to be a lot more done before we can tackle this.

    I’ve been in these situations before and feel that my point is warranted and definitely agreed on by others. When you can give some more positive and concrete (and grammatically correct) facts to this issue, please feel free to do so. Until then, my opinion stands.

    Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I am so Thankful for everything I have including my town, my neighbors, and my friends.
    Kristina

  6. greenguy says:

    I am not in favor of this. Windsor Hospital in Chagrin had a lot of problems. This governmental facility services those who cannot afford their own health care and are referred to a State of Ohio program. Not really a service to the majority of Aurora residents.

    At a minimum, the conditional zoning approval ought to be reviewed each year to ensure that this facility remain as what is being represented.

    It could easily morph into a Juvenile Detention Center of some sort.

  7. oldmomma says:

    Let’s not forget that this is a private, for profit organization. At least that’s my take. Has anyone been able to find any info on the company who will be buying the hotel and administering this facility? I know I haven’t.