Opening of new homeless shelter in Lacey has been delayed, city official says
The opening of the Maple Court enhanced homeless shelter on Quinault Drive in Lacey has been delayed, a city official told the Lacey Planning Commission on Tuesday.
The site, which is a converted Days Inn motel, was originally set to open June 19, but now the opening has “slipped a bit,” said Grant Beck, planning and development services manager for the city.
The delay was caused by some fire sprinkler issues, he told the commission. A new opening date has not been determined, he said.
But once the shelter is open, the first residents to move into it and a shelter in Olympia on Franz Anderson Road are expected to come from an encampment that has established itself near Sleater Kinney Road Southeast on state Department of Transportation property in Olympia.
Some of the people living there already have been able to move into an existing Olympia shelter called Unity Commons on Martin Way as beds become available, he told the commission.
As many as 177 people have lived at the camp at one point or another, Beck said.
The overall effort to move homeless residents into the Maple Court shelter is part of the state’s right-of-way program, which aims to get those living in public spaces along Interstate 5 into housing. The program helped fund the acquisition of the Days Inn property and its operations for two years.
The 118-unit motel has been converted into a shelter to serve 120 people in Thurston County. This includes singles, couples and people with pets, The Olympian previously reported.
Each room includes a bed, living space, bathroom, microwave and refrigerator.
Beck added that once Maple Court opens, the plan is to place 10 residents a week there until the Sleater Kinney camp can be cleaned up. Once the camp has been cleared, the State Patrol will “trespass” anyone who returns to the site, he said.
“The focus of the right-of-way dollars is to get people out of the right-of-way in the encampments,” Beck said.
This story was originally published June 7, 2023 at 5:00 AM.
