Dozens of beds for homeless women are again available downtown at the old Central Library, offering a boost to the region’s strained shelter system even as the recent storm forced another facility to close for the foreseeable future.
Officials said 34 spots opened up Monday. The building will only be accessible at night.
San Diego has a permit to use the structure as a shelter for 180 days out of a 12-month period, meaning the library may shutter once more later this year.
“These additional beds reflect my firm commitment to use every City resource possible to get people off the street and into care,” Mayor Todd Gloria said in a statement. “We will continue to use the Old Central Library to shelter people experiencing homelessness until we are ready to redevelop this site into additional shelter space and affordable housing.”
The building first began housing homeless residents a year ago before closing in July. During those six months, the program served more than 150 people and connected 25 to long-term housing, according to a press release.
The nonprofit National Alliance on Mental Illness will again run the site. NAMI previously offered medical and behavioral health care, showers, laundry services and a mail stop, and officials said they’d continue to provide a range of services.
“Right now, this is the best use of the old Central Library,” Sarah Jarman, director of the city’s Homelessness Strategies and Solutions Department, said in a statement.
The building was emptied of books in 2013 when San Diego opened its new central branch near Petco Park.
Leaders hope to eventually use the land for a 40-story complex with hundreds of affordable units, but that will require raising $320 million through the mayor’s new philanthropic effort.
Officials are also looking at other sites to serve as temporary shelters, including “warehouses,” “unused facilities and parking lots,” Jarman added.
Teams continue to assess whether the hundreds of bunk beds in the Alpha Project tent by 16th Street and Newton Avenue are salvageable after flooding forced an evacuation Monday.
