A methadone clinic at Third and Main streets should open by the end of October, Dunkirk Mayor Wilfred Rosas said this week.

Rosas said the chief operating officer of the clinic’s parent company, New York City-based Acacia Network, visited the site with him on Thursday. The clinic will be directly operated by the Alba de Vida substance abuse treatment program run by Hispanos Unidos of Buffalo, an affiliate of Acacia.

“They’ve done a lot of work in there. It looks very impressive,” the mayor said. The clinic is going in at 303 Main St., formerly the site of an Off Track Betting. Acacia also bought the former Weiss Hardware next door in case the clinic needs to expand.

Rosas said Acacia is spending more than $1 million to renovate the site. He said the place still needs more equipment, such as security cameras. However, he doesn’t think that will stand in the way of an autumn opening.

“I would say realistically, by the end of October if not sooner,” he said of the opening date. “Which is good, because these are services that are definitely needed in our community.”

Methadone is a drug used in the treatment of addicts to opioids such as heroin. Advocates of methadone clinics say they stop dangerous withdrawal symptoms and guard against relapses among heroin addicts attempting to quit the habit.

Critics say the clinics can attract criminals, notably drug dealers attempting to take advantage of relapsing addicts. This was a major reason that the city government would not allow a methadone clinic on the corner of Third and Park streets, in the same block as Northern Chautauqua Catholic School, back in 2018. Parents of children who attended the school were highly critical of the plan, fearing their kids would get exposed to unsavory things.

Hispanos Unidos’ executive director, Engenio Russi, said in a July 2020 town hall meeting that the group considered 28 different sites for the clinic.

The Acacia Network has deployed a “Safe Point Lighthouse” mobile unit this summer in Dunkirk to offer addiction treatment services. However, methadone cannot be distributed there.