The Abbey Center is an addiction treatment facility located in Bettendorf

Bettendorf

Bettendorf may refer to:*Bettendorf, Germany, a municipality in the district of Rhein-Lahn, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany*Bettendorf, Iowa, a neighbor city to Davenport, Iowa in Scott County, Iowa, United States*Bettendorf High School...

, Iowa

Iowa

Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...

. It provides residential, in-patient treatment for both men and women, but it is also licensed to run out-patient programs. The Center was created in 2008 and is one of the few treatment centers located in the Midwest. It is currently managed by The Illinois Institute for Addiction Recovery.

History

For nearly 80 years, The Abbey served as a monastery. After a major renovation effort in the early 1990s, The Abbey operated as an AAA-Four Diamond-rated boutique hotel for 16 years. Today, The Abbey is an addiction treatment center focusing on the Midwest region.

Monastery

The Abbey was constructed in 1914–17 as a monastery for the Sisters of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, usually referred to as the “Carmelite Sisters.” These Sisters came to Davenport in 1911 from Baltimore, Maryland. They settled at the intersection of 15th and Brady Streets in Davenport, Iowa (about 10 miles from our current Bettendorf location), and began construction of a monastery there. They built the main chapel of this monastery on that site in 1912. When they decided to move to this site in 1914, however, they dismantled the chapel brick by brick and rebuilt it on this spot! Consequently, the chapel cornerstone has both dates – 1912 and 1917 – indicating that the chapel was built twice.


The Sisters named their monastery “Regina Coeli Monastery” – Latin for “Queen of Heaven.” The Monastery was built to accommodate 21 Sisters, plus additional rooms for “novices,” or beginners.

Hotel

The monastery – in failing repair – was purchased by the Lemon family in 1991. The Lemons completely renovated the facility into a luxurious hotel, with 19 guest rooms, banquet and dining rooms, lobbies and lounges. It features Italian marble in the lobbies and baths, crystal chandeliers and new furnishings throughout. The hotel has all new bathrooms and mechanical systems, and modern electrical, heating and air conditioning; and sprinklers and fire protection systems have been installed throughout the hotel, but the monastery's serene touch has been preserved.



The Abbey Hotel provided luxury accommodations and specialized in wedding receptions, banquets, business meetings, reunions and functions of all kinds. As a hotel, The Abbey earned a Four-Diamond Award from AAA; this rating was achieved in September 1993 and was maintained in every subsequent evaluation.

Treatment Center

After 16 years of running the Abbey Hotel the Lemons decided to convert it into a treatment center. The Abbey Center has been operational since November 2008. Its opening was preceded by a major community effort, led by neighbors who were not feeling comfortable about a treatment center operating near their houses.

Building & Facilities

In January 1994, the Regina Coeli Monastery was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Architecture

The building is a Romanesque structure, of gold-mottled brick, with cream-white Bedford stone trimmings. It is 119 feet long, in double cruciform (cross) form. It is surrounded by a brick wall for privacy. There are two angels, one holding a lamp and the other a trumpet, on the roof of the chapel entrance. The stained glass windows in the chapel portray Carmelite saints, or scenes which are the subject of a Carmelite meditation.

Chapel

The Abbey, originally built as a monastery, has a gothic chapel located on the second floor. During the hotel times it served mostly for weddings, but today it is a place of rest for the treatment center's clients.

Rooms

The current capacity of The Abbey is around 40. The rooms are typical of the standards in AAA-Four-Diamond rated hotels.

Facilities for the patients

The Abbey Center has an athletic center, a basketball hoop, dance floor, yoga room and cinema room. The patients also take advantage of a full-size industrial kitchen were the meals are prepared.

12-step Foundation

The Abbey offers in-house and outside 12-step meetings to clients throughout treatment. The Center's directors believe that the Twelve-Step program

Twelve-step program

A Twelve-Step Program is a set of guiding principles outlining a course of action for recovery from addiction, compulsion, or other behavioral problems...

is among the most successful ones ever developed in the history of substance abuse treatment.

Typical schedule for the day

As advertised by The Abbey brochure:
Time
Activity>

7:00 am	Breakfast
7:30 am	In-House AA Step Meeting
9:00 am	Community Meeting
10:00 am	Process Group
1:00 pm	Lunch
1:30 pm	Individual Session / Exercise
2:00 pm	Process Group
3:30 pm	Spiritual Sessions
5:00 pm	Quad Cities AA Meeting
7:00 pm	Dinner
8:00 pm	Study Time