Ethan Allen School: Could it once again house juvenile offenders, or perhaps, sex offenders?

MILWAUKEE -- Officials in Milwaukee and Madison are eyeing a piece of land in Delafield -- wondering if it's time to reopen the former Ethan Allen School. There are two groups with two different ideas for the property.

The Ethan Allen School housed male juvenile offenders until it closed in 2011.

Some in Milwaukee want to reopen the facility for that very purpose -- while others wonder whether it could serve as a new home for sex offenders.

For more than four years, the gates have largely remained shut at Ethan Allen School in Delafield. The state closed the juvenile detention facility in 2011, moving the juveniles to the now-embattled Lincoln Hills School in Irma.

The property's future is foggy -- but a Milwaukee alderman is wondering if it could be used to house sex offenders.

"I think that the state needs to come up with a plan where they can house these individuals in facilities that are away from residential neighborhoods," Alderman Tony Zielinski said.

Rep. Michael Schraa (R-Oshkosh) says knowing that the Ethan Allen site is currently sitting vacant and unused, the location is an idea to explore further.

Ethan Allen School

"There are a lot of townships and municipalities that are coming up with their own ordinances and they`re really limiting where these individuals can be placed," Rep. Schraa said.

But Schraa says it's simply brainstorming at this point.

"It`s a thought, an idea, and obviously, I`ve gotta talk about it with the governor and with leadership and with the representatives from that area," Schraa said.

Rep. Schraa is working on a bill with Senator Richard Gudex (R-Fond du Lac) that would deal with the process for choosing the counties in which sex offenders are released under Chapter 980 provisions.

“Recently, it was announced that a violent sex offender would be placed in the Town of Eldorado in Fond du Lac County under Chapter 980 supervised release. Since this individual is from Milwaukee County and committed his crime in Milwaukee County, I believe it is more appropriate to place him in his county of origin, not Fond du Lac County. In looking more broadly at the issue of how sex offenders are released, it is apparent that there are several ideas or options that should be investigated to a greater degree," Rep. Schraa said in a statement.

Lincoln Hills School

Meanwhile, officials with the state and Milwaukee chapters of the NAACP say amid alleged abuses at Lincoln Hills, juvenile offenders should return to Ethan Allen -- particularly those from southeastern Wisconsin.

"The disparity of a 200-mile trek for parents that have to travel that distance when it`s only 30 miles away to the Ethan Allen School," Fred Royal, president of the NAACP Milwaukee branch said.

Ethan Allen School

If the state-owned property ever does reopen, it's far from clear who would live there.

Alderman Zielinski says he's working to make exceptions to the Milwaukee sex offender ordinance.

He says those exceptions would be homes in mainly industrial areas.

Milwaukee sex offender ordinance