The city of South Bend has picked a new site for a homeless intake center after its initial site drew heavy opposition earlier this year.
The city is now considering buying land on Old Cleveland Road that a nonprofit would use to build a new homeless intake center. Speaking on the condition that they not be named, multiple members of the nonprofit’s board confirmed for WVPE that the city is looking to buy the site.
Mayor James Mueller declined an interview request Thursday.
The New Day board members said they received a presentation about the new site earlier this week at their quarterly meeting.
The site would be just east of the city’s Organic Resources facility where it composts yard waste, leaves and brush into mulch. It’s about a mile and a half west of the site off Bendix Drive that caused controversy in January and February.
The city and New Day Intake Center want a newly built facility to replace the makeshift Motels4Now program that Our Lady of the Road is operating out of the former Knights Inn on Lincolnway West. New Day would raise roughly $14 million to build it.
Opponents have said the initial site was too close to neighboring homes, a day care center, a school and a park. Still, the city bought the propertyfrom the South Bend schools and planned to seek its rezoning from the city’s common council.
But more than three months later, the city has yet to start the rezoning process with the council.
