HURRICANE — While a who’s who of politicians and officials took the microphone at the dedication of the Washington County Crisis Stabilization Center in Hurricane Tuesday, standing nearby were the people who actually built it.
There in the humid sun were workers from Watts Construction peering at their handiwork.
The building was finished long before the dedication ceremony. It just needed some air.
“The only delay we had was some HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) units that didn’t show up and were delayed from the factory,” TJ Ford, the project manager for Watts Construction on the center, told St. George News. “Pretty much everything we see here was done in December and then there was just the HVAC hold-up.”
Otherwise, Ford said the project had “no holdups, no hiccups.” Officials were also quick to point out the work of Washington County Administrator Nicholle Felshaw to quickly transform the site at Legacy Park from an empty dirt lot last March to a fully-formed building by the end of the year.
Felshaw was honored last March as one of three receiving Element women in leadership awards from the St. George Chamber of Commerce.
Along with the new center, Watts workers have had their hands and hammers in the building of several iconic local buildings including the new Washington County Administration Building and the Abbey Inn in St. George, the police building and community center and pool in Washington City, and many of the buildings at the Tuacahn Center for the Arts and the Shivwits Convenience Store in the Ivins area.
But Ford and others with Watts said there is something special about this build as the facility, run by the Southwest Behavioral Health Center, will provide free help for people with mental health and substance abuse difficulties. Officials said it’s meant to be to mental health what urgent care and emergency rooms are to physical health.
The blueprints of the facility have mental health written all over it. There is a “calming room,” a “23-hour stay area” with colorful, plush furniture and a “serenity courtyard” with a feng shui design that was paid for by Intermountain Health.
“The garden worked out great,” Ford said. “It’s a really great place to go back and sit down and relax and, and, uh, have some tranquility.”
Also unique as far as the build of the Stabilization Center was a collaboration with the architect MRW Design Associates.
“One of the neat things about this is … we actually worked side by side with the architect during design and so we did have some input on it. It’s the really the best way to build a project,” Ford said. “You get to be there with the architect and the owner all the way through.”
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