State to Spend $3 Million to Turn Former Willie's Steak House Site into New Medical Building

Another prominently vacant space in town could soon be filled. 

That's because the State Bond Commission is poised to approve a $3 million expenditure to help Community Health Resources (CHR) build a new 30,000-square foot outpatient mental health clinic at 444 Center St., a vacant lot that once housed Willie's Steak House. 

The building will cost $6.75 million total, and is intended to consolidate a number of services that CHR currently operates throughout town. 

“I’ve been working with CHR for several years on this and other issues,” State Sen. Steve Cassano, a Democrat who worked to secure the funding, said in a statement. “CHR has a large presence in Manchester and has several facilities here. I’ve watched them expand their programming over the years; they provide tremendous opportunities to people. With this state grant they’ll be able to put under one roof all of the housing and outreach and social service programs they offer that benefit our community so much.”

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy called mental health services are a "critical need for every community." 

“The investment we’re announcing today will ensure that CHR has the resources they need to provide people suffering from mental illness with high-quality, comprehensive and affordable care that they might otherwise go without," Malloy said in a statement. "In real terms, this investment means more people in the Greater Manchester area will get access to the excellent mental and behavioral health services that CHR provides.”

The State Bond Commission is scheduled to meet Friday, April 26, 2013.