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By Aimee Braniff Cree
**EXCLUSIVE**
WELCOME TO the multi-million pound juvenile detention centre that has been abandoned for longer than it was open.
Images show a crumbling detention centre with grass growing on the mattresses in the cells, debris all over the floor in the common room where a clock is frozen at 09:45, there is even an American flag hanging in the office beginning to sprout.
These images were captured by urban explorer Leland Kent known online as Abandoned Southeast.
The detention centre in Florida, USA relied on funding; a daily rate of $75 to $120 was negotiated with neighbouring counties for bed space.
It was a lack of funding that led to the close of the detention centre in the early 2000s.
“After several years of planning and construction, this juvenile detention center opened in the 1990s,” said Leland on his blog.
“In addition to being one of the most modern facilities of its kind in the country, it was designed with security in mind.
“The multi-million-dollar detention centre has no cell blocks and plenty of space for the nearly three dozen individual and isolation cells.
“By order of the courts, juveniles between the ages of 12 and 17 were brought here for charges ranging from truancy to burglary or theft.
“To fund the detention centre, a daily rate of $75 to $120 was negotiated with neighbouring counties for bed space.
“Young offenders were maintained in individual holding rooms within a larger room where supervisors had a good view from an upper floor.
“Anyone sent to the detention centre was required to keep up with their schoolwork, and teachers were available daily to help them with their studies.
“The juvenile detention centre closed in the 2000s due to a lack of funding.
“As of today, the building has been abandoned for a longer period than it was in use.”
Find out more on Lelands Blog.
ENDS
