Rehab center eyed for former college dorm in Manchester

Jonathan Phelps, The New Hampshire Union Leader, Manchester
·2 min read

Oct. 1—The owner of sober homes across New Hampshire hopes to open a 55-bed rehabilitation center inside a former New England College dormitory in downtown Manchester.

The well-known former Lowell Hall at 88 Lowell St., which includes an 1841 two-story brick school building, has been for sale for $5.9 million since the college moved most of its programs to its campus in Henniker. A six-story addition was added in 2009 for classrooms and dorms.

The building is still owned by the college.

Live Free Recovery Services is set to go before the Planning Board at 7 p.m. Thursday at City Hall to seek a change of use site plan review to convert the dormitory to a rehabilitation center, according to the agenda. Part of the request includes a reduction in the number of parking spaces required.

The building and site costs are estimated at $2 million, according to the application.

"The proposed use is permitted within this zoning district," the application reads. "There is parking available along Lowell Street and Chestnut Street as well as other neighboring streets in the downtown area."

The Manchester School District just opened a new welcome center inside French Hall, a building owned and operated by New England College, at 148 Concord St. The two buildings are just across the Hartnett parking lot for each other.

Live Free Recovery Service operates sober living homes in Keene and Manchester for both men and women, according to its website. The company utilizes 12-step programs in all of its homes.

The application included seven pages on the scope of services the company offers its clients, including medically monitored inpatient withdrawal management and short-term residential programs.

Some of the programs help "clients to reintegrate into society and the workforce with additional support."

"Clients will begin to explore job opportunities and spend time in the community as they process through treatments," the application reads. "Clinical staff will help to prepare clients to become self-sufficient in the community."

CEO Ryan Gagne did not return a phone call seeking comment on Tuesday afternoon.

Live Free Recovery Services previously sought to convert the former Goodwin Funeral Home on Chestnut Street into a halfway house for up to 30 men.

The plan got held up in court before the building was sold to the Granite State Children's Alliance in Bedford.