ARLINGTON – The Stillaguamish Tribe plans to open a new methadone treatment and healing center with counseling services on 172nd Street NE south of Arlington Municipal Airport.

The Tribe will relocate the Island Crossing Healing Center that it has operated at SR 530 and Smokey Point Boulevard since 2003.

The new two-story, 41,837-square-foot clinic is being built on tribal trust land at 5700 172nd St. NE, providing services for those who will report regularly for a dose of methadone, a synthetic opiate that helps people overcome their addictions. The building will also house administrative office space, conference and examination rooms, an outdoor deck and roof garden.

Work is well under way by Everett-based contractor Gaffney Construction, with much of the steel girder framework in place this week. Gaffney has been involved in several recent projects nearby including the Arlington Boys and Girls Club expansion and Triple T Warehouse at the airport, and was general contractor on the Stillaguamish Tribe Administrative Building project.

The Tribe operates the accredited methadone treatment center as a place dedicated to helping individuals and their families regain control of their lives, treating patients with dignity and respect during stages of treatment. The center provides services to Native Americans, veterans and non-native clients alike.

The Tribe’s Behavior Health Program chemical dependency facility on 59th is located just east of the new center.

When the Stillaguamish Tribe in 2003 opened the county’s first methadone clinic, Island Crossing Counseling Services, was only the second nationwide to open on tribal land, Stillaguamish and state health officials said. The center has provided methadone treatment for several years now in a region that seen significant increases in opioid use.

Heroin in particular is reaching epidemic proportions in Snohomish County. According to health district statistics, from 2011-2015, there were 732 opioid-related deaths in the five-county north sound region; Snohomish County accounted for 545 of them, with Whatcom next closest county recording 77 deaths. From 2011-2013, about one out of every five heroin deaths statewide occurred locally. In 2013 alone, heroin and prescription opioid overdoses represented two-thirds of the 130 accidental overdose deaths in the county.

Main access points into the center will be from 59th Avenue south of 172nd, and also near the 5700 block on 172nd.