The Hub – which is the therapeutic school program that melds mental health and educational resources for students in critical need – will be displaced at the end of this school year. Its leadership team has begun a conversation with La Plata County about moving to 10 Burnett Ct. at the Tech Center in west Durango.
The move is just one element in the narrative concerning negotiations between the city of Durango, School District 9-R and the Durango Fire Protection District and the three-way trade that may occur involving River City Hall, Buckley Park and the 9-R Administration Building.
Currently, The Hub occupies a back corner of the Big Picture High School. But the school will be moving to a new space in the Tech Center later this month. The DFPD purchased the building where Big Picture currently resides in December 2021.
The Hub is run by a shared leadership team composed of Samantha Tower, Hub program administrator and principal of Big Picture High School; Jason St. Mary, Hub program director and executive director of La Plata Youth Services; Emily Murphy, supervisor of therapeutic programming at La Plata County Human Services; and Dr. Heidi McMillan, medical director.
The team approached county staff about potentially using the third floor of 10 Burnett Ct. The space is currently configured as a laboratory, and sits mostly vacant. The bottom two floors are occupied by the La Plata County Department of Human Services.
During a meeting Wednesday, County Manager Chuck Stevens explained that when the county acquired the building in 2016, the Board of County Commissioners desired to lease the third floor space to an entity that was directly connected to the clientele already entering the building. It previously rejected a medical marijuana processing lab that wanted to lease the space.
The location could offer several major advantages.
It would be located near the new Big Picture location, and the county’s therapists that staff The Hub have existing offices in the building. For The Hub, the building is likely to be a good deal financially because the county has intentionally tried to set rent at a rate that is comparable, if not lower than that of similar nonprofit-occupied spaces.
But the space also has its share of challenges.
Commissioners brought up concerns over privacy of Human Services clients and security for students. The building would also need some significant remodeling.
“What we’re looking for is a space that is conducive to the environment of the students that we're working with,” St. Mary said. “So, a lot of open space, but, in addition, a lot of office space because we have a lot of private conversations with students and sometimes they just need a break or a retreat or what we call a brain break.”
He said the location is less than ideal because it moves the program from the city center – where students are often engaged in community-based activities – while also moving it farther from Bayfield and Ignacio, two communities where The Hub hopes to expand its services.
County commissioners applauded the work The Hub has done and indicated approval for negotiating an agreement, with the caveat that their concerns be addressed.
“I think you’re hearing a pretty strong resounding yes if we’re able to work out all the (concerns),” Commissioner Marsha Porter-Norten said.
Although the space is not perfect, St. Mary emphasized that the program’s scrappy beginnings have not prevented it from offering critical services to Durango youths needing more attention in school.
“We've made this program out of nothing when we started,” St. Mary said. “We've been crafty, innovative and strategic in the partnering and the funding mechanisms and all these different components. And we'll figure this out, too. ... The building's not the space – it's the culture, the climate, it's the nurturing environment that really makes this program special.”
rschafir@durangoherald.com
