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Second floor option for Safeway site Adding community center intended to assuage fears By DANI DODGE The old Safeway building on West Main in Medford may double as a probation office and a community center. County officials are looking at adding a second floor to the empty grocery store building to accommodate the broad range of community services they want there. "We were given firm direction by the county administrator to see if we can make this work," said Hank Collins, the director of the county's Health and Human Services Department. "My marching orders from her are to develop some floor plans and meet with the architect and see how it can work." The move was intended to assuage fears of West Medford residents who worry about having a parole and probation office in their neighborhood. But it hasn't worked quite yet. "They are just trying to put frosting on the cake," said Gigi Michaels, the director of the West Medford Community Coalition. "They are just trying to hide the reality of it." In February, the county confirmed it was considering buying the defunct Safeway store at 1101 W. Main St. for a community corrections building. It would allow the department to consolidate its parole and probation services into one location and save money it spends on rent. The county made an offer on the property, and a sale is being negotiated. County officials Friday said a deal has yet to be signed. People living near the former grocery store have been up in arms over the plan. They don't want parolees and probationers walking through their neighborhoods and causing trouble. A private school is located near the former grocery store and parents say they are worried that pedophiles will target the children. County officials have insisted, though, that crime rates go down around probation offices. Not up. Collins said putting the community center, also known as an "integrated services" site, with the community corrections office makes sense. The community center is a place where a variety of public services are offered from county health nurses to state workers who can take applications for food stamps and the state's public health plan. Community centers are popping up all over as the county tries to make it easier for people to obtain services they need to survive and flourish. Right now, the West Medford community center is located across the street from the parole and probation office in a rented building. Collins said county officials are considering building the second story on the Safeway building if the county is able to buy the building. It would mean adding between 10,000 and 11,000 square feet at an estimated cost of $60 a foot. Additionally, an elevator would have to be installed. Bob Grindstaff, the director of the community corrections department, said he welcomes the new plan. He noted that the parole and probation services already are successfully incorporated in the community center in White City. "We've found the same people that come to the community center are the same people who visit our office, or families of people who visit our office, so it works very well for everyone involved," he said. "If it will help both the west Medford center and the community, we are very much in favor of it." But at least one member of the west Medford community wasn't mollified by the new direction. Terah Kropp lives three blocks from the Safeway building, and one of her sons goes to the Christian school across from the store. "My concern is sex offenders being that close to children," she said. "Adding anything to it won't make a difference." Kropp said the county should consider other options. "Putting the community center there -- and not the sex offenders -- would be OK," she said. "They are just grabbing at things now to calm us down because they see we are force to be reckoned with." Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA