Sudbury warming centre forced to move from Frood Road location

The daytime warming centre on Frood Road in Sudbury will have to relocate next month.

For the last few months,The Centre de SantCommunautaire has been opening its doors daily to those in need. But concerns from neighbouring businesses haveprompted the building's landlord to ask the Centre de Santto find a new location for the warming centre.

The city's general manager of community developmenttold city council Tuesday evening that other merchants in the area were unhappy with the groups of people "hanging around" the building during the day.

"So [the landlord] suggested to Centre de Sant, that they could no longer operate the warming portion of the services that they offer, and provided them with notice that they needed to find an alternate location for that service," Steve Jacques said.

"This is a very challenging operation at the best of times. And, in areas [where]...other businesses are operating within that building, it's something that obviously, in most cases, is an incompatible use."

'Businesses are complaining'

Denis Constantineau, the CEO of the Centre de Sant, says complaints from neighbours have been growing over the last two months, and reached a "fever pitch"in recent weeks. He says the plummeting temperatures have ledto people staying at the warming centre longer, and congregating nearby, instead of venturing elsewhere.

"Businesses are complaining that the clients are hanging around, that it's changed the look of the neighbourhood, that there's disruptive behaviour, that clients don't feel safe, that clients are being harassed," Constantineau said.

Constantineau says after conversations with the landlord, the Centre de Santdecided to "pull the plug," adding he doesn't blame the landlord.

"I know that people have to earn a livelihood and this has an impact on that. I also understand that these clients need a place to go, and have some basic needs that aren't being met. So I'm trying to find a wayto walk that fine line between those two needs."

Whenthe doors to the warming centre first opened on October 1, Constantineau says staff expected to serve about 40 to 50 breakfasts each day. Instead, they're serving more than 70, with about 195 entries into the centre each day.

Constantineau says the landlord has not given a firm date by which the warming centre services need to be relocated, but he hopes a new location can be secured by early January. The city is leading the efforts to find a suitable location.

The news comes as city council deferred a motion from councillors Bill Leduc and Robert Kirwanabout setting up warming stations in trailers downtown. That matter will be discussed at a finance committee meeting next week.

More news from CBC Sudbury