The Cuyahoga County Juvenile Detention Center:

The oldest detention center for youths in the United States sits abandoned and decaying in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. The Cuyahoga County Juvenile Detention Center (CCJDC) was designed by the Frank W. Bail Co. and opened in December 1931. The center was considered a national and international model of court services specialized for children/youths.

Overcrowding in the Center:

In 2007, overcrowding became an issue for the detention center as they reached 163 residents. For a center this size, it was far too difficult to house that many, and plans for a new center were in the works. In February of 2010, things had become chaotic as the center was taking on more people than it was truly capable of, and three inmates escaped through a kitchen. Two of the inmates were found the same day they had escaped, while the third was found four days later.

New Center Built:

By 2011, a new center had been designed and built. The new nine-story juvenile justice center on the corner of Quincy Avenue and East 93rd was opened and ready to take in more troubled youths. With the new center open, the old CCJDC building was considered surplus by the county, and closed their doors. They had plans to either sell, or demolish the center. Ideas to demolish the building were scrapped when the Ohio Department of Transportation deemed the building potentially historic. The City of Cleveland designated the building as a landmark, and it’s now considered eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

Remodeled in the 1980s:

Most of the courtrooms were remodeled during the 1980s, at the same time as parts of the building. One courtroom however remains in its original design, complete with the ornamental ceiling from the 1930s, as well as an ornate fireplace. In hand with that is the stained glass window in the office beside this courtroom. Colorful tiles were placed in many tiled walls throughout the building, including the walls in and around the “timeout room.”

The courtyard featured interesting architectural details in the stone. Facing north when standing in the courtyard, you can see a stone sundial on the building’s exterior wall, among other architectural details all around.

Making my way from the courtyard, I reentered the building through an ivy-covered archway leading to busted double doors. Making my way back inside, I continued on through the long hallways leading to various offices. After wandering around the halls for a bit, I ventured into the stairwell and made my way to the upper floors. The courtrooms, offices, classrooms and cells were all placed throughout these upper floors, including the former courtrooms of Judge O’Malley and Judge Corrigan, among others.

Don’t Get Locked In:

You have to be careful when exploring a building like this. The doors in a detention center aren’t always normal doors, and most, for obvious reasons, will lock automatically behind you with no way out other than unlocking it from the outside. We were reminded of this when one of our friends accidentally let a door to one of the former classrooms swing shut. We were on the top floor, and the heat was ramping up throughout the morning hours. Thankfully we were on the other side of the door, standing in the hallway, because being trapped in a room with no open windows on the top floor of an abandoned building is not fun…just saying.

Resident Notes From 1999-2000 Left Behind:

I stepped into the next room over and noticed a similar preventative measure, only this time on the windows. Every window in this room had large golden padlocks holding them shut, keeping people from opening them and attempting to escape. It was in this room that I had also spotted a lockbox labeled “resident grievances.” I attempted to lift the lid, but had realized that it was locked. Now I was curious, and determined to see what might remain in the box after the building sitting abandoned for years. Could there be old letters from detention center residents that went unanswered by staff? After some fidgeting with the box, I was able to get it open. I’d hoped to find some letters from around the time of the building’s closure in 2011, but what I found was significantly better, and a bit more interesting.

The box did indeed hold letters from former residents, but when I saw the dates on these grievance letters, I was asking myself even more questions. Some letters were dated 1999, with the latest letter being dated 2000. Eleven years had gone by while the building remained in operation, and these letters were still sitting unread. Some of these letters had even mentioned abuse from workers. One mentions a worker supposedly choking a resident, and another mentions a worker putting his hands on them. It’s not clear if the workers were guards, teachers or other staff. One complaint mentions workers throwing her food away, not letting her eat because she apparently rolled her eyes at them.

As the building sits rotting away, it still awaits being added to the National Register of Historic Places. It’s unclear what may come of this building in the near future, but one can only hope that this piece of our history can be saved.

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