Old lounge at Fredericton Exhibition Grounds approved for winter homeless shelter
Shelter with between 20 and 40 beds will meet community need, operator says
A temporary overnight shelter was approved by Fredericton's planning advisory committee on Wednesday evening, in hopes of replacing a smaller shelter previously planned for this winter.
With space for up to 40 people, the new shelter will operate out of the former Winners Lounge at the Fredericton Exhibition grounds.
After getting municipal approval Wednesday night, Warren Maddox, executive director of Fredericton Shelters Inc., said the facility will hopefully be up and running in January once it receives approval from the fire marshal and small renovations are completed to add heating and fix up the property.
The city already owns the property, and Wednesday's vote was to amend zoning to allow a shelter and to approve a sublease between the New Brunswick Exhibition and Fredericton Homeless Shelters Inc. to operate through April.
Before the committee unanimously approved the proposal, four members of the public spoke in favour of it, while one person raised concerns.
Addressing the committee, Maddox said the shelter will have two staff on hand. One security guard will be on site 24 hours a day and two others will patrol the exhibition grounds during the shelter's operating hours, which will be 8 p.m. to 8 a.m.
"We'll do everything that we can to make sure that site remains safe, stable and fits into the neighbourhood," Maddox said.
The exhibition shelter will have 20 beds when it opens, Maddox said, and staff will assess what demand is like. The facility can hold up to 40 beds if needed, he said.
The city also had approved a smaller, 10-person overnight shelter at the Small Craft Aquatic Centre on Brunswick Street. Maddox, whose organization also runs that centre, said the hope is it will become a back-up for the new Exhibition shelter.
Speaking virtually to the committee, Timothy Parker said he lives across the street from the exhibition and also owns a business there.
"We already have several issues with homeless people impeding our parking lot, our driveway, sleeping on our deck. We've had needles on our property. I've had a conversation with a gentleman as he smoked a crack pipe," Parker said.
His experiences don't reflect the behaviour of the whole homeless community, he said, but he expressed concern about impacts on his business.
Angus Fletcher said he has volunteered at the out-of-the-cold shelter and lives in the neighbourhood.
"Access to the shelter prevented death and loss of life and limb, and it was accessible to nearly anyone who could line up," Fletcher said.
"This and the many other shelters provide a vital function, and 40 beds will save lives and increase quality of life."
Em Lane, a family physician who works downtown and lives close to the exhibition, also voiced her support virtually to the committee. She told the committee about a patient she had seen earlier that day.
"He has been living rough, and he is about to lose some fingers because he hasn't had a place to sleep recently," Lane said.
"He is exactly the person we're hoping to house and help with a shelter like this, and so I think the urgency cannot be understated."
In an interview after the vote, Maddox said his organization has been working on winter shelter plans since June.
"I think the process tonight was good, we were encouraged by the amount of support behind it," Maddox said.
He said he shares the concerns about security that were raised, because he too lives in the neighbourhood.
Maddow acknowledged that the shelter won't solve every problem in the city and that some in the homeless population need help beyond what they can provide.
"But what we can do is provide a compassionate, safe place, a warm space for people to come in and get a decent night's sleep and get connected and start moving them back toward somewhere that's not the margins of society."
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