Residents Celebrate Drug Center Victory

About 100 Lake View Terrace residents showed up at a block party Saturday to celebrate their success in preventing the proposed Nancy Reagan Center for drug-abuse treatment from moving into their neighborhood.

Residents fought for more than a year to keep the 210-bed center from occupying the defunct Lake View Medical Center. They appeared to be losing until late last month, when the former First Lady backed away from the fight, citing the neighborhood opposition.

The fate of the vacant medical center has not been decided. Elaine Benjamin, 40, a supervisor at an insurance company who was active in opposing the center, said neighbors hope that the site becomes a “quiet church” or community center. “Let’s hope we don’t have another battle on our hands,” she said Saturday.