Guilford County has had a whole lot of major projects in the last five years and the county will be moving forward with another one later this week: The Board of Commissioners is preparing to spend more than $10 million renovating and furnishing an existing building at Gibson Park in High Point to create a residential substance-abuse treatment center for pregnant and parenting women and their children.
At its Thursday, Sept. 17 meeting, the Guilford County Board of Commissioners is scheduled to award a $9.76 million construction contract for the Women with Children Recovery Facility.
The board will also be asked to approve nearly $625,000 in furniture for the project, bringing the construction and furniture price tag to about $10.38 million.
Gibson Park is a roughly 200-acre Guilford County park on West Wendover Avenue near Jamestown. The park includes athletic fields, playgrounds, picnic shelters, fishing ponds, walking trails and access to the Bicentennial Greenway.
The recovery facility is on the Gibson Park property but is separate from the recreational areas most park visitors use. While it will be separate, those being treated and their families will have close access to some nice soothing scenery and recreational activities.
The center itself will be located at 5209 W. Wendover Ave.
The building has been used as the Guilford Residential Treatment Facility – which provides residential substance-use recovery services for adults.
Under the county’s new plan, the building will be renovated to serve pregnant women and women with dependent children who need residential substance-use treatment.
The facility will have capacity for up to 28 women, and the county has said women will be able to live at the center with dependent children in their care.
County officials say there are currently limited residential treatment options in Guilford County for pregnant and parenting women – meaning that some women seeking that level of treatment have to leave the county and, in some cases, uproot their children as well.
According to information presented by the county, in 2022, 69 Guilford County children entered foster care because of substance abuse and 18 of those children were under age 1.
The county also reported that 52 children were involved in in-home services because of substance misuse that year, with 28 of those children age 5 or younger.
The county commissioners first began moving toward creation of the center several years ago.
In October 2022, the board earmarked $3 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds for the project.
In 2024, the county selected Volunteers of America Chesapeake & Carolinas to help design the program and ultimately provide services at the facility.
In July of last year, commissioners authorized county staff to hire CPL Architects and Engineers to design the renovation.
That design was put out for bid in August of this year and ten construction companies submitted bids.
Randolph and Son Builders Inc. of Pineville submitted the lowest base bid at $9.28 million and the lowest total bid including the alternates selected by the county at $9.76 million.
The next-lowest total bid was $9.97 million from Gen-Con Group LLC.
The construction package includes several individual items that add to the base bid, including $205,500 to replace exterior doors and windows, $139,000 for replacement kitchen equipment, $71,500 for a covered outdoor dining area and $50,750 for outdoor cross-training equipment.
It also includes $7,000 for murals and $6,000 for an exam table.
The construction contract will run for one year from the county’s notice to proceed.
The county’s 2026-2027 fiscal budget committed $10 million to the project and anticipated that the county would eventually issue debt to finance it.
Commissioners on Thursday will therefore also be asked to approve what’s known as a reimbursement resolution, which will allow Guilford County to use proceeds from that future debt issuance to reimburse itself for eligible project expenses paid before the debt is issued.
The agenda item states that the commissioners committed $10 million to the project and that the project is expected to be financed through a future county debt issue.
The separate furniture request totals $624,767.
County staff is recommending buying $205,941 in common-area furnishings from Alfred Williams, $270,612.85 in bedroom furniture from Institutional Interiors and $148,213 in office and administrative furniture from Reidsville Office City.
According to county staff, the three companies are being used to spread the project among multiple vendors and because of pricing, availability and the furniture available from each company.
Once open, the Women with Children Recovery Center is expected to operate around the clock and provide at least 20 hours a week of clinical treatment.
Services are expected to include individual and group therapy, parenting instruction, child supervision, educational programs, medication-assisted treatment and access to prenatal, postpartum, pediatric and primary medical care.
The Board of Commissioners meets at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 17 in the second-floor commissioners meeting room in the Old Guilford County Court House at 301 W. Market St. in Greensboro.
