Red Deer recovery community to be built in Chiles Industrial Park

EDMONTON -

The City of Red Deer and provincial government have chosen the site for a new recovery community as construction is scheduled to begin in the fall.

Originally announced in July last year, the province is planning to build a new 75-bed addiction recovery centre near Red Deer.

The facility will be located on a 10-acre parcel of land next to the QE 2A Highway and within the Chiles Industrial Park – approximately one kilometre north of Highway 11A and Gaetz Avenue.

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According to city officials, the location was chosen because it is “away from the urban core” but still close enough to the municipality and other nearby community services.

“Supporting people to find their path to long-term recovery remains a commitment of our government – but we can’t reach this goal alone,” said Jason Luan, associate minister of health and addictions, in a statement.

“Thank you to the City of Red Deer for their dedication to working together to find a site that considers the needs of those seeking support, businesses, local residents and the community as a whole.”

Tara Veer, Red Deer’s mayor, said in a statement that the city looks forward to having the site operational.

“The identification of this land marks the next step towards a solution to many of the health and social challenges our community has contended with for years due to lack of comprehensive health and social infrastructure and programming in our city and region,” Veer said.

“This project will help respond to the long-standing need for local residential addictions treatment to help address community impacts of the national drug crisis.”

According to the province, the recovery community will be a long-term residential treatment site for addictions that will take a “holistic approach” to treatment. Residents will live at the centre for between three months and a year, after which recovery will continue with the support of community services.

The Red Deer facility is one of five recovery communities that the province announced in July 2020 would be built as part of the United Conservative Party government’s economic recovery plan.