Architects say replacing the Vermont State Hospital with a new building would cost between $14 million and $21 million.
Gilbane Building Co., a Providence, R.I., consultant, says building a 15-bed treatment facility in Waterbury would cost about $14.5 million, while renovating the Dale prison – which will be vacated this year – would cost about the same amount of money.
The state has been trying to figure out what to do with the 54-bed Vermont State Hospital for years. In 2004, the federal government decertified it amid problems including a patient’s suicide.
State officials want to build a 15-bed treatment center in Waterbury to replace it, augmenting that with new space at hospitals in Rutland and Burlington and the use of community-based facilities to treat patients.