Former St. Cloud Church Transformed into Drug Rehab Center, Receives Unanimous City Council Approval

(KNSI) — An abandoned church in downtown St. Cloud will now save souls from the clutches of addiction after developers received unanimous approval from the city council Monday night to turn the former First United Methodist Church into a 48-bed inpatient drug and alcohol rehab center.

The facility at 302 5th Avenue South has stood vacant since 2013 and will also offer outpatient care.

Four residents who spoke were in support of the treatment center. No one spoke against it.

Ascension Recovery Services will run the center. CEO Doug Leach spoke with KNSI News right after the vote and is thankful for all the support. “I think it’s a real good sign for what’s to come. The way that we’re going to be successful there in our patients are going to find true recovery is through that community support. That’s the only way we’ll be successful. So I’m really happy.”

Leach works with state health departments to find where they can do the most good. “This is an area that everybody said has a big need. And that’s where we want to focus. If there’s an area that has a lot of robust treatment options, we don’t go there. And we want to go to areas that have gaps in care. We want to fill those gaps.”

Staffing for the drug treatment center would fluctuate between about 12 overnight and 30 during the daytime. Family and guest visitation would also be allowed. The first patients should be admitted in the spring of 2025.

The idea comes from the developers behind a different revitalization project. It is the final piece of a roughly $120 million development.

Brian Schoenborn told the planning commission last month that when the whole thing started, he never envisioned he would be proposing a drug treatment facility. Schoenborn says the inspiration for the facility was the death of Mack Motzko, who was killed in a crash in July of 2021 by a driver who was under the influence. Schoenborn was Motzko’s godfather.

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