By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer

The Lakes Region Recovery Center, which has existed in the community for four years, has officially announced its moving date.

The drop-in center will be open at its new location, 2 Elm St., on Oct. 31.

The change of location was made public a few months ago, but the day when that would happen was unknown until now.   

“LRRC members have been asking for months, ‘When will the space be ready?’ When we were finally able to give them an exact date of Oct. 31, everyone has been so excited,” according to Communications Specialist Candy Greenberg.  

“We’re feeling nothing but positive energy from folks,” she said. 

“LRRC officially opens the doors to 2 Elm St. on Halloween Day. We encourage the community to come visit during the day,” she said. “We’ll be wearing our Halloween costumes and passing out candy to trick-or-treaters in the evening.” 

“We don’t expect everything to be unpacked and organized by then. We do expect to be celebrating the new space and welcoming our members to their new home away from home,” Greenberg said. 

As a result of the move, the center will be closed for three days next week.

“The center will be closed on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, Oct. 26 through Oct. 28.  Groups have been cancelled for those days with the exception of the Bridgton AA New Day Group which continue to meet at noon per usual,” Greenberg said. 

“The new space will benefit LRRC and our members in many ways. The location is easily accessible and parking is abundant. It’s walkable for many in our community without transportation,” she said. 

“We will have extra meeting rooms, and an additional full bathroom. There are three offices for staff and volunteers. This is two more than we previously had,” she said.  “We’ll have a computer/lending library to honor Dr. Peter Leighton. We will have a full kitchen and dining area to be able to cook and serve meals — something we love doing!” 

Plus, the new space will have a living room area with comfortable seating and a television and Wii games, she said.