Red Lake band to build drug treatment center

RED LAKE, Minn. - A northwestern Minnesota American Indian tribe will use part of a $13 million federal loan to help fight drug abuse.

Red Lake Nation plans to build a nearly $5 million treatment center. The facility in Red Lake will have 16 beds, meeting rooms and visiting areas. Red Lake community development facilitator Gene McArthur tells Minnesota Public Radio News the center will help the tribe address the problem of opioid abuse.

The Red Lake tribe also plans to build a fire hall in Ponemah, a fire station in Red Lake and a dialysis center. Construction on the projects is to begin next year.

"It'll sure help enhance the quality of services and address a lot of the problems that we are having here in our community," McArthur told MPR, "so we're doggone excited about it."