CAREVAN’S plan to resurrect a drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre at Granya House is being thwarted on two fronts.
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The community-based group, which supplies meals to the homeless in Albury-Wodonga and Wangaratta, is sweating on a $160,000 grant it is seeking to buy the property.
In a separate move, Granya House’s owner, Faith City Church, has been approached by another party interested in buying the centre for an unrelated purpose.
Faith City operated the drug and alcohol rehabilitation service for men for nearly a decade before closing it early last year.
Carevan’s board was expected to be ratified at a meeting a week ago.
But chief executive Jodie Tiernan yesterday said it was still waiting on its grant bid.
A deadline on a sale passed last Friday and Carevan sought a two-week extension.
Faith City pastor Michael Geerling was unavailable for comment yesterday.
Ms Tiernan said Carevan held no animosity towards Faith City and stressed the sale couldn’t go ahead without the grant.
“Carevan is 110 per cent committed to starting up a drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre for our area,” she said.
“It is needed and I think the community will get behind it as well.
“But we can’t throw the whole of the Carevan operation away by purchasing the property.
“There is a lot of work to be done out there.
“To run a professional and effective rehab centre would cost $1.6 million a year.”
Ms Tiernan said the bulk of the grant money would be absorbed in bringing Granya House up to modern-day standards.
She said Carevan would explore other options for an Albury-Wodonga rehabilitation centre if the Granya House deal fell through.
Granya House was formerly owned by the Back To Reality Foundation, which had committed $10,000 to the centre re-opening.
The centre, 40 kilometres from Albury-Wodonga, formerly was the Granya Hotel.