Good afternoon,
At the January 9th meeting, the MDDA Board of Directors heard a presentation from Nick Emmendorfer, Executive Director of Room at the Inn, on their proposal to transition the Warming Center, 447 W. Washington St., into a permanent emergency homeless shelter. Below are the documents from that presentation, including a project narrative, impact statement, draft architectural renderings, and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services emergency shelter standards.
Room at the Inn believes the proposed model would better serve the needs of the homeless population by providing a centrally located, permanent homeless shelter in place of the rotating shelter currently provided by local churches. The project would entail renovating an existing, upper level residential unit in the Warming Center into a 24-bed (12 bunk bed), year-round facility, and using lower level, ADA-compliant space as "overflow" sleeping space. The facility would be staffed 24-hours and guests would be expected to remain indoors after 6:00 p.m. According to the City's Land Development Code, homeless shelters are permitted as a Special Land Use in the Central Business and Mixed-Use zoning districts, through the appropriate application, review, and permit acquisition process.
Room at the Inn is seeking support for this project from community partners, including the Marquette DDA. I, and the Board of the Directors, respectfully request your input, as part of the downtown community, before taking a position on this issue. Please respond to me at becky@downtownmarquette.org with your input by Monday, January 20, and know that all responses will be kept confidential.
Thank you,
Rebecca Salmon
Executive Director
Marquette Downtown Development Authority
337 W. Washington St.
Marquette, MI 49855
Phone: 906-228-9475
Email: Becky@downtownmarquette.org
Web: www.downtownmarquette.org
