ADDICTION CLINICS REJECTED BY NEW ALBANY

Two companies that asked the state for permission to build
addiction-treatment centers dispensing methadone in New Albany have
been denied because local officials did not support the plans.

Rhode Island-based Discovery House proposed locating next to
Wal-Mart at 2820 Grant Line Road, while Colonial Management Group of
Florida sought a home downtown at 700 Pearl St. Both companies
received rejection letters in mid-January, said Dennis Rosebrough,
spokesman for the state's Family and Social Services Administration.

Neither company could persuade a local official to send the state a
letter of recommendation, which is one of the requirements for
eligibility the state cemented in December.

After its application in September, Discovery House pitched its idea
to the public in a forum at the New Albany-Floyd County Public
Library. The great majority of the audience opposed the clinic,
which would have treated addictions to drugs and alcohol; many
residents feared such a clinic would lead to more crime and drug deals nearby.

"Part of the issue that local people and officials had was
location," New Albany Mayor James Garner said. He was "pretty sure"
in December that the applications wouldn't succeed.

A Discovery House representative told Garner the company would apply
again this year, most likely for a site elsewhere in the city,
Garner said. The proximity to Community Park and Christian Academy
of Indiana raised concerns. Discovery House officials could not be
reached Tuesday.

"It is still a potential that eventually there may be a clinic," Garner said.

Jeffersonville and Louisville each have methadone treatment centers.

Mark Gallagher, director of Colonial Management Group, said his
company hadn't decided whether to apply again.

"We've run a clinic [in Gary] for a very long time and like the idea
of having a couple more" in Indiana, Gallagher said. "I think I
personally should have spent more time going there talking to some
of the key players."