Bruce Oake Recovery Centre slated to open in spring 2021, construction past halfway mark

Construction on Winnipeg’s Bruce Oake Recovery Centre has now passed the 50 per cent mark.

Groundbreaking for the centre being built in honour of Bruce Oake was held on Aug. 22, 2019, on what would have been his birthday. The son of Canadian sportscaster Scott Oake died in 2011 due to a heroin overdose. He was 25.

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The 42,000 square-foot facility is being built in Winnipeg’s west end, at the site of the old Vimy Arena. The centre has 25 resident rooms which will house 50 patients, a communal kitchen and dining area, family lounge and a public gymnasium which neighbouring community members can access through a separate entrance, a feature that was added following public consultation in the area.

4:40 CMHA discusses Bruce Oake Recovery Centre opening on Global News Morning Winnipeg

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The building will be a long-term, residential treatment centre for men suffering from drug and alcohol addiction.

“It’s inspiring, it’s overwhelming, it’s emotional,” Scott Oake, co-founder of the centre, said on Tuesday.

“It’s making our boy’s life mean something, and that was part of our goal when we started.”

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“That, and to help ensure that what we went through would not have to be the nightmarish experience of other families.”

Fundraising to build the $16-million facility was supplemented Tuesday when Payworks, a corporate donor, delivered a $500,000 cheque to the Bruce Oake Recovery Centre.

“This centre is so crucial to our community,” Payworks CEO JP Perron said in a release. “We’ve made this donation to support the creation of a Resident’s Lounge at the centre because the importance of community and a sense of belonging within the healing process can’t be overstated. Having a place like this is vital to the well being of both those experiencing addiction and their loved ones.”

Construction of the centre is expected to be complete in March, with residents slated to start moving in as of May 2021.

“It’s about six, seven months away,” Scott Oake said. “We have hired an executive director, we’re beginning to assemble our staff and it’ll be a couple months out from opening that we’ll be able to begin the intake process.”