BANGOR, Maine- Almost a week after Pittsfield-based construction company Cianbro was selected to build a 21 bed forensic psychiatric unit in Bangor, the issue appears on a Bangor City Council workshop agenda.
The facility is a project backed by Governor Paul LePage, designed to help ease over crowding at Riverview Psychiatric Center in Augusta. The project was originally to be sited in Augusta, not far from the capitol, but disagreements with the legislative council, as well as Attorney General Janet Mills, over its development, prompted LePage to seek other state-owned land.
But the project is drawing some concern from the city. The Bangor Daily News reports that city officials say they asked the governor for a meeting to learn more about the project, but were told to look the information up online.
It's not been said yet who will actually run the facility, but City Council Chair Joe Baldacci has expressed concern that the unit might become, in essence, a privately-run prison. He said last week that the people of Bangor should have some input on such a project.
The unit will house forensic psychiatric patients who have been deemed not criminally responsible for their crimes. A so-called step-down facility from Riverview, the inmates of the new unit would no longer need top-level hospital commitment, but would still need daily oversight.
