Kamloopsians can expect an announcement on the future of a shelter space at Memorial Arena in a couple of weeks.
That is according to Carmin Mazzotta, the City’s Social, Housing, and Community Development Manager.
He tells NL News the City has also been working with BC Housing with the hopes of also announcing plans for a winter shelter for people who need a place to go to.
“I think as shelter space is identified and secured to allow Memorial Arena to decant so that those shelter users aren’t displaced into street homeless, but they actually have an alterative shelter to go to, that is the intent of what we are striving for so that Memorial Arena can be returned to recreational use,” Mazzotta said.
“We’ve been working on that portfolio and hope to have something that we can announce within the next couple of weeks absolutely.”
Memorial Arena has been used as a shelter space since May 2020, and in July of this year, the City said it will stay that way until a new shelter space can be found. There are currently 50 beds set up inside the arena, and Mazzotta says the facility on Victoria Street has been at or over capacity every night for the past several weeks.
Kamloops Councillor Mike O’Reilly agrees with Mazotta’s comments, telling NL News the City knows that Memorial Arena is not a good place to house people.
“We want to get that ice as much as the users do. At the same time, we also don’t think it is appropriate for the 50 people that are living in there to be housed in that location,” he said. “I think anybody that has been in that arena in the middle of February knows it is not a warm place. People should not be living in that facility.”
But speaking on the NL Community Town Hall, O’Reilly added that it is better than having people sleep outdoors, noting the City is looking to make changes.
“We are very mindful of that and we are actively pursuing every option possible for a different location where these individuals could be located,” he said. “This is an active pursuit, this is not something we’re sitting idle on.”
It is unclear if the discussions on where to relocate the shelter space is being discussed in closed council – which would prevent councillors from speaking publicly until a decision is made.
“A lot of what we are hearing from the community is they want their ice back. Whether its Kamloops Minor Hockey or its men’s league at night, they want their ice back,” O’Reilly said.
“They want the facility to be used what it was intended to be used for which was a community asset being an ice rink. Obviously we know that through the recreation master plan we are short of ice in Kamloops already.”
