Plan To Turn Fez Batik Lounge Into Shelter Met With Opposition
Posted March 28, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Residents and business owners in Toronto’s entertainment district haven’t always gotten along, but they appear to be united against a plan by the city to turn the space that used to house the Fez Batiz lounge into a homeless shelter.
A new downtown shelter is needed because one located on Edward St. closes at the end of April, to be replaced by affordable housing.
City officials suggest the Fez Batik space could be perfect, because it could hold 40 beds, has high ceilings and open spaces, and already contains a commercial-size kitchen.
The site, at the corner of Richmond and Peter Sts., is also close to transit and major thoroughfares.
But business owners and people who live in the area aren’t convinced it’s the best spot for a shelter.
“I think it’s entirely inappropriate,” asserts Randy Woolgar. “There’s seven clubs within 150 metres here. Things get cranking up later in the week all through the night, and I just don’t think that the mix for the residents here is going to be the right one.”
Businesses are worried it’ll cut into their profits by chasing away customers, and residents are questioning the wisdom about putting a shelter in the midst of a popular party hangout, with its access to drugs and alcohol.
If the plan is approved, the shelter could be open by the end of the summer.
“Is there some negative reaction? Yeah. There’s some positive reaction. It’s just as easy to find as the negative reaction. People tend to get all scared of the homeless as if somehow they’re not there already,” said city councillor Adam Vaughan.
The City held a community meeting at Metro Hall Wednesday night discuss the proposal. As expected, both opponents and proponents of the plan made their voices heard.
“I am more concerned with the policing issue and the fact that these two groups won’t mix well at all,” argued one attendee.
Others maintained the shelter wouldn’t affect business, and would in fact, be a positive step.
“Its an area with 24-hour activity where it will have limited impact…negatively upon anyone else,” added another.
“They are people too, and everybody deserves a bed.”
