Members of the Nevada Public Works Division outlined the State-funded Southern Nevada Forensic Facility to lawmakers during the Assembly Committee on Ways and Means meeting on March 18.
The Forensic Facility is to be located east of the College of Southern Nevada’s West Charleston campus, on the SWC of Charleston and Jones blvds. The facility will cost $420M for construction and land acquisition.
The project is owned by the State of Nevada. The architecture team is comprised of HOK Group, Inc., KGA Architecture and IN2IT Architecture. Burke Construction Group, Inc. is the general contractor.
The $420M price tag is divided between two projects. The first, valued at $38M, consists of purchasing the land, demolishing three existing buildings and completing designs for their replacement. A solar array toward the west end of Jones Blvd. is also to be removed. The remaining $382M will cover construction costs for the new building.
The 327KSF new facility is designed to be four stories and have a capacity of 300 people. Plans include three separate wings for patients and an additional wing for administration. Developers stated it is Nevada’s first “purpose-built” psychiatric facility.
Thirty beds will be delegated as intake and assessment beds; 60 are long-term; 30 will be high-risk, and the remaining 180 will be competency restoration beds. If more beds are needed, designs are flexible and leave room for a future fourth patient wing that could add up to 90 beds.
An additional budget is expected to be submitted in 2027, which is estimated to add an additional $28M to the project. The new facility is expected to open in 2029. The demolition project is expected to begin later this year.
Existing Facilities
Currently, there are two psychiatric facilities with similar purposes: the Muri Stein Hospital and the Lakes Crossing Hospital. Lakes Crossing is the farther facility, located in Sparks. It has 86 beds. Muri Stein is adjacent to the site of the future psychiatric facility. It has 153 beds. Both facilities were converted from pre-existing uses to psychiatric ones.
Muri Stein is nearly at capacity. The hospital is planned to be demolished and given to Campus for Hope as a homeless facility. The Governor’s Office of Economic Development approved the facility in January. (Source)
