Addiction counselor hopes to open substance-abuse clinic in Greeley motel

GREELEY — The owner of a methadone clinic in Pueblo is proposing to convert the Rainbow Motel in downtown Greeley into a substance-abuse recovery center.

Perla Ramirez-Groothuis, a licensed addiction counselor, will discuss her plans to open the Colorado Recovery Project with the city this week to convert the aged motel into a treatment center for a variety of substance-abuse issues.

“There’s definitely a need in the area and the region and even just the rural communities surrounding Greeley, would be an area that’s drivable for people who need treatment,” said Ramirez-Groothuis, who owns the Elevate clinic in Pueblo.

The Rainbow Motel has a long history in Greeley, opening in 1953. The manager’s apartment at the motel was actually designed as a speakeasy when Greeley was still “dry,” said General Manager Max Stolkin. It has gone through several owners, and it wasn’t always known as the best place to stay.

“For a time it was known as a very seedy place,” Stolkin said. “The current owners completely renovated it. They took it back to its original purpose. We still get guests who tell people they are staying here, and people say, ‘You don’t want to stay there.’ But today, it’s definitely a three-star motel.”

Nancy Clark and her son Jarod, both of Denver, purchased the building in 2017. Nancy Clark said her son fell in love with the neon rainbow sign. The duo, however, have a lot of properties in Colorado, Nebraska and Kansas, and they will typically fix up old buildings into furnished apartments for more longer-term living.

“We’ve given it a really good shot here, but we are better at apartments than we are at the hotel business,” Clark said. “The bottom line is, yes, it’s for sale, and we think it has a good future for a number of uses, truly. We’ve worked really hard and invested a ton of money into it.”

Ramirez-Groothuis said she tried to open a like inpatient treatment center in Pueblo but was met with community resistance, and it was turned down by the local planning commission. The motel is in a more industrial area in Greeley, she said, so a recovery center may be good fit. 

“We can’t think of a better use of a motel once notoriously known for its problem with drugs and crime, being transformed into a drug treatment facility,” a project narrative filed with the city stated. “We hope to positively impact the community of Greeley by providing a much-needed inpatient behavioral health service in the area, ultimately decreasing overdoses, homelessness, crime, and helping drug and alcohol abusing residents in becoming functional members of society. Our program will house individuals with a substance use disorder, provide meals, supervision, counseling, recreation and other necessary rehabilitative services.

Ramirez-Groothuis said she hopes to put an offer on the property after an initial discussion with the City of Greeley to determine if the idea is feasible under city rules.  

“When I was told (about the motel’s history) I got the chills,” she said. “And I got really excited. It’s just exciting to shift it from a building that was not supporting the hopes and dreams of a bunch of people and not contributing to their health and turning it into something that will.”

Her idea is to house up to 30 residents in a voluntary treatment program designed for the indigent or people on Medicaid.

The hotel, she said, was perfect for their program, which has 15 rooms that can house two people each. She plans to have one intake room and two treatment rooms. She said she may include a motorized fence to limit traffic coming in and out of the area freely. “We will be installing a state-of-the-art security monitoring system to include high-definition cameras.

“According to the Colorado Health Information Database, there has been a significant rise in overdose deaths in Weld County in recent years,” the project plan explains. “With the rise in the availability of fentanyl, it is estimated that this trend will only continue upwards, unfortunately. We are confident our work will help decrease substance use, overdose rates, and the overall quality of life for the families within our community.”

While she owns the methadone clinic in Pueblo, Ramirez-Groothuis said she lives in Weld County, and would manage the program with a handful of employees. Clients will have to go through treatment for a minimum of 30 days to get the full effect and have a better chance at staying sober, Ramirez-Groothuis said.

“I was already looking to come into Greeley,” she said. “I know of Greeley and I’ve managed a methadone program previously in the area. So I do know of the need personally. It just happened to be this space was available as well. If not, we would have continued to look at duplexes and large medical buildings.”

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