New shelter space set to replace Crown Street site

Ever since last spring's closing of the Crown Street overflow shelter for the homeless, New Haven's homeless advocates have been anxiously awaiting a replacement. With the decision of the New Haven Board of Zoning Appeals on Wed., Nov. 5, their hopes may finally be met. The city is now well on its way to opening an overflow shelter at 232 Cedar St.

LIZ OLINER/YH Yale purchased the Crown Street property in July.

"This has been an incredible collaborative effort between the homeless advocates and lots of concerned people from the city and Yale," Maria Damiani commented. Damiani has been an active member of New Haven Mayor John DeStefano's team to establish a new overflow shelter.

At the Zoning Board meeting, city officials received a variance permitting the use of the first floor of the Hill Health Center as an emergency shelter for overflow from the other two city shelters.

Unless this decision is appealed, the new overflow shelter will be opened in the next few weeks after renovations are completed.

Most people working on the project feel that this new location is ideal for homeless clients. It will be housed directly below the South Central Rehabilitation Center, a drug treatment program run by the Hill Health Center. Directors of Columbus House, an established homeless shelter in the neighborhood, will manage the new facility.

The search for a new location began last March, as soon as former owner of the Crown Street Shelter, Edward Granfield, could no longer afford to lease the building for only five months of the year. He attempted to sell the building to other shelters and to the city government, but when no one expressed interest, he turned to Yale. The University purchased the building as part of its new Art School complex.

Yale then joined city efforts to find a new site for the shelter. "Yale has been very cooperative in helping with the search," Damiani said. City planners from Yale's Office of New Haven Affairs helped to find the new space, and have also provided designers to help plan the structural improvements needed to run a shelter there. Michael Morand, the office's assistant secretary of education and development confirmed that the office "has served a consulting role in the process."

"We are very pleased that an excellent solution has been found in the Hill Health Center," University Secretary Linda Lorimer, LAW '77, commented.

The decision of the zoning board should allay the fears of many homeless advocacy groups in the city, who have demanded that the city find a new shelter as the evening temperatures drop. "The specifications and planning are largely done," Skip Ferry, director of Columbus House, said. "All the parties involved are committed to making this happen."

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