The provincial government has relieved the Baldy Hughes Treatment Centre and Therapeutic Community of a financial weight by purchasing the property its located on from its Alberta-based owners for $3 million.
The deal, announced Wednesday, means money the centre had been using to cover lease payments can instead be put into expanding and improving the programs housed on the 67-hectare (167-acre) property on Blackwater Road, 30 kilometres southwest of Prince George.
It also gives the centre long-term stability and allows it to attract more stakeholders, said Baldy Hughes board chair Kevin England.
"This really gives us a huge platform to go forward," he said.
Originally a Canadian Forces radar station, Baldy Hughes was converted into Moose Springs Resort in the mid-'90s by Terry and Sheila Beeton. When they put the property up for auction through Ritchie Bros. in July 2007, bidding lasted just eight minutes before Edmonton-based Prowler Leasing emerged the winner with a bid of $650,000.
Later the same year, Loren Mayencourt, then a Vancouver-area MLA, began looking at sites for a "recovery community" based on Europe's largest recovery centre in San Patrignano, Italy. By the end of the same year, the first five clients began their stays at Baldy Hughes.
That number is now up to 65 clients, most of whom stay at the facility for eight to 12 months, and the goal is to increase that total to 80 clients with requisite support, said executive director Marshall Smith.
"One of the beauties of Baldy Hughes is we're a relatively inexpensive program to operate, so this is a very good return on investment," he said, and added, a progress report measuring the centre's success in treating clients for addictions should be ready to go public early in the new year.
Under an agreement with the province, the New Hope Recovery Society which operates the centre will also receive annual operating funding of just over $277,000 through BC Housing.
In addition, the society receives operating funds of $100,000 through provincial gaming grants and up to $676,000 in support recovery funding from the Ministry of Social Development.
There are currently about 15 staff at Baldy Hughes who provide clinical and case-management services and life skills and vocational instruction. The site is also home to 23 buildings.
England made a point of acknowledging the efforts of Rich Coleman, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General and Minister Responsible for Housing, and local MLAs Shirley Bond and Pat Bell.
"This is a great day for anyone who's in the disease of addiction and is trying to put their life back together," England said. "This is a real solution and a path of hope."
