Dane County officials are currently in the process of acquiring a location for the homeless day shelter for the county, with the Madison Area Rehabilitation Center’s east building the most likely candidate.
Lynn Green, director of Dane County’s Department of Human Services said as of right now it appears the day shelter will likely be located at the MARC east building on Lien Road.
The building is currently being used as a day center for developmentally disabled adults, which means it has many necessary amenities already in place, from showers to kitchens, Green said. In addition, it also has ample floor space, she said.
“We have not put in an offer to buy, but certainly everybody knows that that’s the leading candidate for a facility and unless in the near future, some other option turns up, I would say that the county may well be putting in an offer,” Green said.
Should the process move forward, the current cost of purchasing the space would be $600,000, the exact amount that Dane County allocated towards the project, Green said.
MARC Executive Director, Russell King, said he lowered his asking price from $700,000 in order to accommodate the county’s budget.
“We’d like to sell the building to the county for its services to the homeless, because it fits with our organizational values,” King said. “For nearly 62 years, we have been serving a vulnerable population in Dane, and having our building used to serve another vulnerable population, to serve this noble cause, seems to us like the best use of that resource.”
While there are perks to this particular location, there are also things to be concerned about, according to former city alder and advocate for the homeless Brenda Konkel.
“They are going to need a serious transportation plan,” Konkel said. “Up to 150 people per day [will use] the shelter. Transporting 150 people from downtown to that location on a daily basis is going to be a challenge.”
Konkel also added that some renovations will be necessary before the building is suitable for use. Once these changes are made, this location should be able to fit the needs of the community, she said.
Overall the search for a proper location has not been easy, Green said. She said aside from this location, there have been few other prospects that make logical sense.
“It’s been extremely difficult because we haven’t been able to find anyone who’s willing to talk to us about a purchase, except MARC East, that is an acceptable building,” Green said.
Issues arose when the county turned to a process where people interested in selling their building for this project were asked to come forward and no one did, Green said.
Because of this, the MARC East option is the only viable contender, according to Green.
Konkel added that if this deal does not finalize, it should not mean the end of efforts to build a shelter elsewhere.
“If the community is serious about ending homelessness, we need to start somewhere and a day center that helps people with the most basic of things – showers, lockers, phones, computers, glasses, etc. – is where we have to start,” Konkel said.
