GOWANDA – Buffalo Psychiatric Center’s Zoar Valley Recovery and Treatment Center has finally struck ground in a location to build its full service center in the heart of Gowanda.

At 49 South Water street, a podium was set this past Tuesday for the New York State Office of Mental Health to announce that the location was set. The treatment center helped many in need and now it can help even more. It has been a journey to see the growth in size.

“We were first in a temporary trailer and then were moved to a location adjacent to the prison,” said Celia Spacone Ph D. and Execu-tive Director of the Buffalo Psychiatric Center. “It really was too small and was just not appropriate for our services. Now we have what’s going to be very spacious to accommodate several of our programs, three of our programs plus the Western New York Child-ren’s Psych Center clinic.”

The location in Gowanda attacks a broader stroke across western New York. Outside of the Zoar Valley Recovery and Treatment Center, the closest location for assistance would be in either Dunkirk or Buffalo. Both of which are a 20-plus minute drive and that’s if the individual has car accessibility. But both Spacone and the psychiatric center thought beyond that to treat even farther outside of the range the center will have.

“We serve the rural area and also we have just put in place what’s a MIT team, a mobile integration team, which can go out into the community and help people to come in for services, help get them connected to the community, get them the support they need to be successful in the community. That’s always our goal, to work with people that are there, help them get healthy,” she said.

The construction will be done by Savarino Companies. Samuel Savarino took charge in finding a location, but it was no easy feat. Certain locations didn’t work, however, the two-year timeline can now finally see a milestone.

“Originally we were going to be located on Jamestown Street,” Savarino said. “That site encountered some significant public opposition, but it was a good effort for everyone involved to find another site to keep the proposal open, to transfer it without any change. It took a lot of effort from a lot of people to. Everybody’s happy with where we are right now.”

The project will be quick and smooth. With the assistance of many, the project finally found a home and will be open in February of next year, by early estimations.

Email: akuczkowski@observertoday.com

Twitter: @Kuczkowski95