Over 300 people packed into the Richelieu-Vanier Community Centre Monday night, to discuss a proposed plan by the Salvation Army to move its controversial George Street shelter to Montreal Road.
The new building at 333 Montreal Road would be a $50 million, 103,000 square-foot project, built on land already owned by the Salvation Army. Marc Provost with Salvation Army Booth Centre says the new facility will have 10 fewer emergency shelter beds but will more than double the number of beds for addictions treatment and will offer life skills, medical and mental health beds.
But residents, business owners, and local politicians have expressed their concerns with the plan.
That’s why a public meeting was organized by Rideau-Vanier councillor Mathieu Fleury. He tells CFRA’s Ottawa Now with Evan Solomon that he received over 300 emails and phone calls about the issue, and invited those people to come out and share their concerns.
And come out, they did. There were so many people in attendance that the Richelieu-Vanier Centre was at capacity, and more than a hundred more were turned away at the door. Another meeting is scheduled for Friday.
Monday night’s meeting was not a “formal consultation,” according to Fleury, but an “open discussion on strategy with the community on the issues” related to the proposed plan.
Fleury says he believes the issues that have come up with the George Street location are just going to move to Vanier if the plan goes through.
“If you speak to the Salvation Army, they’ve said their current issues down there [on George Street] go beyond the built form and really speak to the proximity between their detox program and the shelter,” he told Ottawa Now. “Well, guess what? In what they’re proposing now, they’re adding all of those services once again, replicating a lot of the types of issues we have currently on George Street.”
Fleury would like to see separate facilities that are spread out, but he’d also like to see the Salvation Army pause its application until proper consultation can be done.
Some residents said they were glad the meeting took place.
So proud of my community tonight. Vanier stood up and said, quite clearly - we have done our share. Nous avons fait notre par. #ottnews
— Andrew Godfrey (@AndrewGodfrey12) July 11, 2017
The Quartier Vanier BIA also issued a statement Monday afternoon, expressing their own concerns about the proposed plan.
With files from CTV Ottawa.
CLARIFICATION NOTE: This story has been updated to better indicate how many people were turned away from the meeting.