The Warming Centre has a new location to get through this winter.
A formal announcement outlining the plan is scheduled for a news conference on Wednesday afternoon.
Dennis Chippa, executive director of The Gathering Place which oversees the Warming Centre, says it is a temporary plan, but one that will give those in need of a warm bed, somewhere to go.
“It is a short-term plan for this winter season. It is a backup plan. It is not the primary idea we wanted but it is the best we could come up with. We wanted through the media to give the community an idea that we will be open, we will have something in place for the winter,” said Chippa.
“We had to go through a lot of hoops to come up with a plan. The backup plan is a little bit simpler than the original plan. It is probably not the best plan, but it is the plan that we’ve got.”
Without divulging too many details prior to the announcement, Chippa was able to confirm that the Thibault Terrace area, which was talked about at one point, is off the table.
“It will not be at Thibault Terrace. The plan came to fruition a little bit late for us to do the kind of renovations needed to get an occupancy permit. The biggest concern we had was the transportation and the concern for the neighbours,” said Chippa.
“That was a plan that was kind of thrown out at us. It took me by surprise, but we took a look at it. I didn’t go in the building myself. I didn’t have to. I got enough consultation from people who said in order to get the occupancy permit, we would need a lot of renos. And we just don’t have the time and the money to do it.“
Chippa says the new location will comfortably fit 15 beds. The former location on Fisher Street provided room for 10 to 12 beds “on a good night.”
“It ticks off most of the boxes. We still have some work that has to be done to get where we’re going. But we can at least tell people on Wednesday where we are at.”
The lease at its Fisher Street location expired at the end of July.
“It was too small. When we were getting five and six people a night it was fine. But when we were getting 10 and 12 a night, it was really cramped. It was a real safety concern for our volunteers, and it was a safety concern for a lot of the folks coming in,” said Chippa.
“A lot of the folks would come in this past winter and say it was too cramped and would leave, and because of that, it really created a concern for us. That was the main thing. The building was just too small for what we were doing. We had to find a bigger space. We honestly didn’t think it was going to be as difficult to find a place as it was.”
