A ceremonial sod turning was held Thursday morning to mark the site of the Maier Centre for Autism Services in west Edmonton.
Officials say the building and the resources, treatment and support is needed in our city.
"Right now we are running a fairly inefficient service. We have the operational funding from the Alberta government, but those funds are used to shuttle staff back and forth to homes and community centres and church basements, wherever we can find space, and these are not specifically designed for our kids," said Terri Duncan, Children's Autism Services of Edmonton.
Duncan says parents and their kids can wait up to a year for services in our city.
"There are so many families with children with autism in Edmonton. Autism affects every 1 in 110 children," said Duncan.
Ray Zadrey's 8-year-old son has autism. He tells CTV News how important it is to have access to therapy for his son.
"Since he's been two we've been getting help but we see lots of people who aren't getting help," said Ray Zadrey whose son has autism.
The facility will cost $6.2 million, and so far, half of that has been raised. A $1.5 million grant was provided from the province and the land was donated from the owner of Bavaria BMW.
Duncan says additional dollars from donors will be needed to complete the project.
With files from Susan Amerongen
