Downtown Mission's move to new location on McDougall Street axed

The Downtown Mission no longer has a deal to buy property on McDougall Street.

Last fall, the organization which serves Windsor's homeless population announced plans to sell most of its current properties and move to a former industrial site now home to a strip mall at a cost of $7.2 million.

Thesite would have needed rezoning. But according to the mission's executive director, Ron Dunn,the organization has lost that property and is now "back on the hunt" for a new location.

"The offer of purchase and sale has expired. It was extended and now it's expired again," said Dunn on CBC Radio'sWindsor Morning. "That McDougall property is a dead deal legally but we're talking with the owner to try and see if we can revive that."

"As of this moment, the only option we're left with is the corner of Ouellette and Elliott which, of course, we already own."

According to Dunn, that's not the preferred location for anyone associated with the mission. But without financial assistance, he added, that may be the organization's only course of action.

As of this moment, the only option we're left with is the corner of Ouellette and Elliott which, of course, we already own.- Ron Dunn, executive director for the Downtown Mission on losing the McDougall deal

Dunnpreviously told CBC News that the McDougall property would allow the Mission to offer all of its services out of the same location, instead of spread across two locations in the city.

Throughout the next couple of weeks, Dunn said, the mission will attempt to make a new deal with the owners for the McDougall location but doing so will be a "costly and time-consuming" process.

"It's a long process of rezoning,"Dunn said. "There's not much we can do to speed things up. We're working very hard with the building department to see if there's anything we can do."

The mission closed its primary shelter on Victoria Avenuefive weeks agodue to a COVID-19 outbreak, with clients moving into a temporary shelter in the old downtown library building. The Windsor-Essex County Health Uniteventually ordered that facility closed.

The mission's clients were moved into an emergency shelter at the city's aquatic centre downtown. Last week, the health unit rescinded that closure order, allowing clients to return back to the Mission's Victoria Avenue location.

The health unit continues to declare the Downtown Mission in outbreak.

Tap on the player below to hear the full interview with Ron Dunn on CBC's Windsor Morning: