Four years ago today, a methadone clinic opened in Northwest Roanoke amid predictions that it would be a neighborhood nuisance, a drain on home values and a hub for criminals.

So far, it's been just a methadone clinic.

Nearly 1,000 people have been treated at the Roanoke Treatment Center at 3208 Hershberger Road. Every morning, often before sunrise, addicts arrive at the brick building to receive a dose of liquid methadone, a narcotic that curbs their cravings for prescription painkillers, heroin or whatever opium-based drug it was that drove them to the clinic for help.

When the clinic began dispensing methadone on Jan. 25, 2005, nearby residents feared the worst:

Homes would be burglarized by addicts. Drug dealers would find new customers in the parking lot, posing a threat to residents and children at nearby schools. Property values would plummet. Those fears turned out to be unfounded, according to police statistics, real estate records and interviews with neighbors.

Last year, police were called to the clinic 14 times, mostly for minor reasons such as a false burglar alarm or reports of suspicious activity that didn't turn out to be serious. In its first year of operation, the clinic had 34 police calls, most of which involved the trigger-happy burglar alarm.

That's not an unusually large number. A nearby business, which authorities declined to identify, had 42 calls for service last year, police spokeswoman Aisha Johnson said.

"I don't even know that place is up there," Joseph Waller said of the clinic, which sits near his home on Swarthmore Avenue. "There is no problem whatsoever on this street from it.

"If it had to be rated, it would be a plus for the neighborhood and not a hindrance. Because it helps somebody, doesn't it?"

Since the clinic opened, property assessments on the 16 houses that sit on Swarthmore -- the nearest residential street to the clinic -- have all gone up, according to real estate records.

The clinic currently treats 428 people, director Letitia Malone said. Nearly half of those receive take-home doses of methadone, so they don't visit the clinic every day. A total of 945 people have enrolled since 2005.

"I think things have gone very well," Malone said. "It's been a real uphill journey, but we've been able to help a lot of families, save a lot of lives, and do some good work and provide a needed service to the community."

Before the clinic opened, opioid addicts in Roanoke had to drive two hours to find the nearest methadone provider. Demand for the treatment has escalated as the region has seen an increase in abuse of prescription medications.

Nationwide, about 260,000 people are receiving methadone treatment from more than 1,200 clinics, according to Mark Parrino, president of the American Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence.

A frequent criticism of methadone treatment is that addicts are simply trading one drug for another -- which Parrino said misses an important point. "Absolutely, they are dependent" on methadone, he said. "It's the nature of the medication and the nature of their brain chemistry."

But dependence on a prescribed medication is much different than addiction to a street drug, which often causes behavioral problems and criminal activity, Parrino said. Studies have shown that people on methadone are far less likely to fall into those traps.

Over the past four years, state inspectors have cited the clinic twice for violations of standards. One citation was for incomplete paperwork for one patient; the other involved a computer error that led at least one patient to be given an extra 20 milligrams of methadone. Average doses range from 80 to 110 milligrams.

Two violations over four years "would be a very good record, compared to the others," said Leslie Anderson, director of licensing for the Virginia Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services, which regulates methadone clinics.

Still, some people remain critical. Many residents of Northwest Roanoke remember that the clinic came to their part of town only after a proposal for one in Southwest Roanoke County was withdrawn in the face of fierce neighborhood opposition.

To them, a black neighborhood was targeted for what wouldn't be tolerated in a white neighborhood.

Jim Beatty, who lives within sight of the clinic, said that just because there have been no major problems doesn't mean that residents have forgotten the controversy of four years ago. "I think a lot of folks that I've talked with feel like it was dumped on us because we were the least able to fight it," he said.

A lawsuit by nearby residents that sought to declare the clinic a public nuisance was dismissed in 2006. But opponents vow to keep up their close watch for trouble.

"The clinic will say they are a good neighbor," said community activist Jeff Artis, who was involved in protests when the facility opened.

"All I have to say to that is when you know someone is watching, you will always be on your best behavior.

"And we'll be watching the Hershberger Road methadone clinic as long as Folgers makes coffee."