LOWELL — The site plan for a facility at 10 Technology Drive, that will be the base of operations of the Restoration Center, an ambitious, first-of-its-kind program in Massachusetts, was approved by the Planning Board during its Monday night meeting.
Community behavioral health nonprofit Vinfen is partnering with Spectrum Health Systems on the innovative diversion program designed to offer an alternative to emergency rooms and incarceration for individuals with mental health and substance use disabilities. The nonprofit partners hope to open the new facility in the fall of 2025.
In a joint statement released via email on Tuesday, Vinfen and Spectrum said the nonprofits appreciated the opportunity to address the board and remained “committed to moving this vital project forward.”
“City approvals are important milestones in making the Restoration Center and enhanced substance use treatment a reality for Lowell,” the statement said. “This project addresses a significant unmet need, as Lowell has nearly twice the state average of individuals seeking substance use treatment.”
According to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Lowell has almost twice the average of individuals seen for substance use needs across all settings. Current substance use visits to Lowell General Hospital’s emergency department are 147 times above the state average.
Through a procurement in 2023, the state chose Vinfen as the provider for the Restoration Center and Lowell as its location.
The hearing was fairly straightforward given that only the site plan, and not the purpose of the facility, was under review. Site plans look at issues of trash storage and removal, snow services, parking, landscaping and access.
The two-story, 32,000-square-foot building sits on almost 6 acres, and is located in the office park zoning district off Wood Street, just before the North Chelmsford line.
The applicants intend to change the use of the building into a medical and counseling educational service. Building Commissioner Dave Fuller said the center’s use as a 24-hour inpatient facility is allowed by right in accordance with the Lowell zoning ordinance and did not require zoning board approval.
In 2018, “An Act relative to criminal justice reform” was passed and the Middlesex County Restoration Center Commission was established. The commission was co-chaired by Middlesex Sheriff Peter Koutoujian and Danna Mauch, president and CEO of the Massachusetts Association for Mental Health. It was comprised of representatives of the state Legislature, the behavioral health provider community, advocates, police, courts and state health care agencies.
The commission modeled its treatment center idea off of programs already in place in Texas, Arizona and Michigan. At a commission meeting held in September 2022, Koutoujian called the center “a long time in coming.”
“Far too long, law enforcement has had to shoulder the burden of crisis response in the commonwealth,” he said. “It is time we shift the responsibility back to where it appropriately belongs — behavioral health providers.”
During their stay at the Restoration Center, individuals will participate in a variety of educational, rehabilitative and therapeutic programs aimed at allowing them to integrate into society and achieve their life goals.
Worcester-based Spectrum Health Systems has been providing services for people with substance use disabilities for over 55 years. It currently operates outpatient facilities in 14 cities and towns in the commonwealth.
The Restoration Center will include 24-hour and year-round urgent access for walk-in patients and drop-offs by police and other first responders. It will open with 10 beds for less than 24-hour stays and 10 beds for short-term stays with a maximum approximate period of 14-30 days.
Planning Board Vice Chair Gerard Frechette asked for the onsite security protocols and considerations for “the safety of the community, as well.”
He mentioned a homeless encampment behind the site, a cannabis business within walking distance on Wood Street and whether clients of the center can “walk off the site.”
Spectrum’s Chief Behavioral Health Officer Kristin Nolan said the hope is that the “facility is going to help with those encampments and engage people into treatment with mental and substance use disorder services.”
The facility is not a psychiatric hospital and does not have locked doors, but Kim Shellenberger, Vinfen’s chief strategy officer, said the site will have 24-hour security, round-the-clock staffing, secure access, motion lights and more.
“We are very skilled with managing people,” she said. “As part of the Restoration Center that we are developing, we are working very closely with police to develop secure drop-offs at the center.”
The board attached conditions to the site plan approval around landscaping, transportation and stormwater management, but agreed that it was a good use of the parcel. Construction has already begun on the outfitting of the building’s interior spaces.
“By collaborating with law enforcement, city officials, and other key partners, the Restoration Center will serve as an essential alternative to the judicial system and emergency rooms, ensuring those who need help receive care in the most appropriate and effective setting,” the Vinfen/Spectrum statement said.