A Little Rock investor plans to spend up to $2.8 million to renovate a recovery and treatment center that recently opened on West Roosevelt Road near the State Fairgrounds, a project that an area business leader hopes will spur development in the area.
Tara Tinnin has reopened Serenity Park Recovery Center, a 12-bed residential addiction-treatment facility at 2711 W. Roosevelt Road. Serenity Park also offers medication-assisted detoxification services and will have an additional eight beds for detoxification patients. Tinnin, founder and chief executive officer of Serenity Park, said the center will have 22 employees and has plans to expand.
"It's almost like we built everything from the ground up," Tinnin said. "Starting a treatment center is no small feat."
Tinnin purchased the 4.5-acre property for just more than $1 million and invested $185,000 to open the building that houses the treatment and detoxification facilities. Another building, which is on the National Registry of Historic Places, is on the site and Tinnin is planning to put another $1.6 million into renovating it.
Little Rock resident Joe McQuany, a nationally recognized recovery expert who died in 2007, founded Serenity Park and moved operations to the Roosevelt Road location in 1990. It closed in 2013. "I was charmed and enchanted by the whole history of the place," Tinnin said.
Doug White, president and general manager of the State Fairgrounds, said the new facility is a welcome addition to the neighborhood and is a sign that investors are willing to help develop the area. The fairgrounds, White said, recently made $600,000 in capital improvements for added security with an improved entrance gate, perimeter fencing and parking upgrades.
"What they're doing at Serenity Park certainly aligns with the improvements we've made," White said. "It's heartening for us to see that kind of investment in this part of town. Hopefully, this will spur more development and more investment in this area. There are so many opportunities for growth and improvement."
George Weaver, who has 30 years of experience leading treatment facilities, will be the chief operating officer of Serenity Park.
Business on 10/02/2019