Main Street Project to expand to former Mitchell Fabrics building By: Ryan Thorpe Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Tuesday, Sep. 25, 2018 Last Modified: 5:41 PM CDT Tuesday, Sep. 25, 2018 Updates

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This article was published 24/09/2018 (2187 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Main Street Project is moving on up.

The shelter’s administration finalized the purchase of the former Mitchell Fabrics building at Main Street and Logan Avenue on Sept. 21, a move that will revolutionize the services the facility offers to the city’s chronically homeless and addicted.

“It’s still very fresh for us, and we’re very excited. This is probably the first significant shelter, mental health and addictions support expansion of this size in the last 30 years for Winnipeg,” Main Street Project executive director Rick Lees said.

The purchase is the culmination of efforts that began two years ago, when the agency did long-term planning to identify the biggest hurdles it faced moving forward. One key challenge identified was lack of space.

Since Mitchell Fabrics shuttered its doors last spring after more than 70 years in business, the Main Street Project has been angling to take over the space, which is located around the corner from its current facility.

The agency has been offering a low-barrier refuge for Winnipeggers struggling with mental health, addictions and homelessness since 1972. It is the only shelter in the city which doesn’t bar entry to those under the influence of drugs and alcohol.

Currently, the shelter jams 85 people — who sleep on mats rolled out on the floor — into its 2,100 square-feet building every night. A situation that isn’t healthy or safe, according to Lees.

Once the shelter expansion is complete, the Main Street Project will have its current space, plus the 36,000 square feet of the former Mitchell Fabrics building. Lees stresses it will be a game changer for the organization and the city’s most vulnerable people.

“It will be used largely for our day and overnight shelter. We’ll be moving people from the mats that they currently use to beds. Instead of one shower, we’ll have 25 showers. There will be laundry and storage facilities,” Lees said.

“We’ll also have a 24-hour cafeteria, so people can eat meals in a more respectful way. We will be able to offer more in-depth, more consistent and safer services. Things will be safer for both our staff and our clients.”

“We should want to live in a city where we can drive by and proudly point out the remarkable facility where we help our marginalized people, not shove them in some back corner where they’re out of sight”
– Rick Lees, Main Street Project executive director

While the new facility isn’t expected to be up and running until December 2019, Lees said staff are hoping to put it to good use in the mean time. After taking possession Oct. 1, the Main Street Project will do some initial construction, seeking to open a drop-in warming centre this winter.

The expansion is expected to carry a price tag of roughly $6.5 million, based on past statements to the Free Press. Lees said he couldn’t unveil how much the building was purchased for, but said the sale was made possible with the help of the Mitchell family, TD Bank and the City of Winnipeg.

He added the non-profit organization is currently in talks with the provincial and federal governments, and is hopeful it can secure further support. In addition, a capital campaign will be rolled out in the near future that will look to raise $2.5 million for the expansion.

In the past, Lees has said the organization would like to open alcohol and supervised-injection programs at a new facility. The latter would require the provincial government’s approval and a special federal permit.

The prominent location of the former Mitchell Fabrics building is something Lees said has raised concerns, but he counters he couldn’t think of a better place for the shelter.

“People have asked, ‘Why would you put a facility for homeless people right on the corner of Logan and Main Street?’ Our response was, ‘Why not?’” Lees said.

“We should want to live in a city where we can drive by and proudly point out the remarkable facility where we help our marginalized people, not shove them in some back corner where they’re out of sight.”

– with files from Dylan Robertson

ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @rk_thorpe

Ryan Thorpe
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Ryan Thorpe likes the pace of daily news, the feeling of a broadsheet in his hands and the stress of never-ending deadlines hanging over his head.

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