Former downtown bar pegged as new location for Yellowknife sobering centre

Yellowknife's sobering centre couldsoon be moving to a downtown building that was once a notorious barcalled the Right Spot.

The location on 50th Street,beside the Northern Lites Motel andacross the street from the Northern News Servicesnewspaper office, would also house aday shelter for homeless people.

Ironically, however, the centre could find itself homeless for a while.

Described as asafe space for intoxicated people to recuperate, the sobering centrehas been temporarily housed since July at the Yellowknife arena, but it needs to be out of that spot by Friday to make room for other programming.

The proposal to use theformer Right Spot building must still beapproved by the city, and council isn't set to review it untilSept. 25.

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If the move is OK'd, the building will needto undergo significant renovations and upgrades that could take months,Health Minister GlenAbernethysaid at a public meeting Monday evening.

In the meantime, his department hopes to work with the city to find another temporary location.

Julie Green, the MLA for Yellowknife Centre, said that could also take a while.

"It's going to be difficult to locate a place because they have looked very hard for space for the sobering centre and it hasn't been easy to find. Finding something on short notice is going to be very challenging," she said,adding that gaps in service would be a concern.

"I don't want to see any break in service. I also don't want to see the people hired to offer the safe ride program and the sobering centre program to be laid off for an indeterminate period of time," said Green.

"I am a little concerned people will go back to Stanton hospital as the primary drop off."

Abernethysaid the new location most recently occupied by a graphics and printing company that relocated elsewhere was chosen after assessing 22 potential sites. It was brought to their attention by BruceValpy, publisher at Northern News Services, which owns the property.

Valpysays it seemed like a good fit as a shelter, so he suggested it to the government and the two sides recently signed a five-year agreement.

The 4,750-square-footspace would enable the day shelter toaccommodate up to 40 clients while the sobering centre could handle 26 (men and women will be housed in separately designated spaces).

Downtown location 'is the right place'

Valpy has heard some people and businesses in the area are wary of the plan but believes having the centre downtown is the best way to get at the heart of the problem and help the most people.

That, in turn, that will improve the area for everyone.

"The problem is downtown so you have to fix the problem downtown,"Valpysaid. "We're going to be right here beside it and as a news organization we'll be watching itclosely."

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Green also believes the downtown is the right place and she is "thrilled" about the proposal.

"This is a harm reduction programit is not a treatment programso we are trying to meet people where they are at and they are here. They are here because the liquor store is here and the services and the shelters where they live are here," she said.

"This is the right place for this service although I realize that there are people who are not going to be happy about it because they live here and they don't want to share this space with people who are intoxicated.But we are a small place, there are only a certain amount of places that this service is viable."

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Lydia Bardakwith Yellowknife's Street Outreach Program, which offers safe rides to the sobering centre and shelters, said adowntown sobering centre will be much more effective inreaching those who need help.

"We might actually be able to increase our capacity because a certain amount of our day is taken up by that drive down Franklin Avenue [to the arena]," she said.

This is a harm reduction programit is not a treatment programso we are trying to meet people where they are at and they are here.- MLAJulie Green

"Having the sobering centre downtown means that we could come and go in a much shorter time frame. And maybe be able to spot or find people sooner, or find more people."

Even if the sobering centre is unavailable for a stretch of time, Bardak added, the impact on their services and staff would notbe significant.

About30 per cent of the program's drop-offs are at the sobering centre, but it's not the only shelter around. The main change, said Bardak, would be the hoursthe sobering centre closes later than the other shelters.

"If there was no sobering centre for a period of time, it means we really wouldn't have a place to take the guys after 11 p.m.," Bardak said.

It operates from from 1 p.m. until 6 a.m. butdaily intake endsaround2 a.m.

The women's centre still accepts women at that hour, though.