The Region of Waterloo and the owner of the building at 150 Duke St. W. finally reached an agreement on Monday allowing construction to begin on a temporary supervised consumption site.
The region says a contractor was at the site that day and work has gotten underway.
READ MORE: Duke Street supervised consumption site to open next month
The site was originally scheduled to open in September but negotiations with the landlord took longer than expected, a source told Global News.
It is believed that it will take four weeks for the temporary site to get up and running, although a spokesperson for the region told Global News that a final start date will not be released for a couple of weeks.
Once the temporary site is complete and running, work is expected to begin on a permanent site at the same location.
READ MORE: Feds give green light to supervised consumption site in downtown Kitchener
The region is footing the bill for the temporary site, which it estimates will cost around $730,000.
The permanent site is expected to be funded by the province, although the provincial government has yet to give the go-ahead.
“They are continuing to actively review the file and we are still waiting to hear from them with a decision,” a region spokesperson told Global News.
READ MORE; Kitchener approves Duke St. location for supervised consumption site, temporary site approved
As of Sept 4., 48 people have died in Waterloo region as a result of opioid overdoses, according to Waterloo Regional Police numbers.
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