Grand Opening of Ak-Chin Indian Community’s Justice Center
The Ak-Chin Indian Community has finalized construction on its multi-purpose Justice Center and will host the grand opening event on June 6, beginning at 9 a.m. The Justice Center is located at 45525 W. Farrell Road, in Maricopa.
“After extensive regional research of justice centers, we found the best fitting components of each and incorporated that into our center,” said Ak-Chin Tribal Chairman Louis J. Manuel, Jr. “It is important for our Community to have a justice center that can serve as a sense of pride for many years to come.”
The Ak-Chin Indian Community broke ground on the complex in December 2012. The now completed 56,000-square-foot Center will be home to the Ak-Chin Tribal Police Department, detention, probation, public defender’s office, prosecutor’s office and courts. It will also include facilities and programming space for rehabilitation services.
“The role that the judicial services, public safety and social services bring to our community is paramount,” said Manuel. “Bringing together these areas under one roof will help streamline services and add efficiency to our process.”
Kitchell Construction provided the construction for this project, with Arrington Walker as the architect.
“As a tribal community, we reached out to the elders to ask for their feedback and recommendations for our Center,” said Larry Joe, project manager for construction. “The Ak-Chin are known for our basket weaving and we were able to incorporate that heritage into the structural components of the building such as the outside façade and the flooring in our entry way. “
With continued sensitivity to the environment, the Justice Center will use reclaimed water in the toilets in select areas of the center. The lights throughout the building turn on when someone is in the room, and automatically shut off when there is no activity in the building.
About Ak-Chin Indian Community:
The Ak-Chin Indian Community is nestled into the Santa Cruz Valley of Southern Arizona. The Community lies 58 miles south of Phoenix in the northwestern part of Pinal County. Ak-Chin is an O’odham word translated to mean “mouth of the wash” or “place where the wash loses itself in the sand or ground.” Ak-Chin has an enrollment of more than 1,004 tribal members and a land base of just over 22,000 acres. The Ak-Chin Indian Community has a variety of business enterprises including Harrah’s Ak-Chin Casino, Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club, UltraStar Multi-tainment Center at Ak-Chin Circle and Santa Cruz Commerce Center. For more information, visit www.ak-chin.nsn.us
