The City of Red Deer is partnering with the province to try to expedite the construction of the local addictions treatment centre.

City councillors on Monday gave unanimous approval to a number of measures that will see the 10-acre site chosen in the Chiles Industrial Park gain water servicing quicker than it was slated to.

“We didn’t want to lose time because of servicing. We wanted to get (pipes) into the ground,” so construction of the centre could begin before next spring, said Mayor Tara Veer.

The 75-bed facility is supposed to be operational by the second quarter of 2022.

Veer said the municipal land was sold to the province for $1 as it was an under-utilized property.

“It is rare… to have a municipality partnering on a provincial project to this magnitude,” she added, but the national drug addiction crisis is producing some dire social and health challenges locally.

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