ARVADA, Colo. — The city of Arvada hosted a town hall Tuesday evening to discuss its plans for the old site of the Early College of Arvada. The college sits in a neighborhood at 60th Avenue and Sheridan Boulevard.
The city wants to take the former school and turn it into a navigation center for people experiencing homelessness.
“The vision we have had is a single gathering place where all the different non-profits in the area are able to be able to offer their services,” mayor Lauren Simpson said. “It’s like a one-stop shop for people experiencing needs.”
The city purchased the building earlier this summer with the intention of using it as a part of its homelessness action plan. The mayor said a couple weeks ago, the city sent out flyers to about 600 nearby homeowners to inform them the school may be turned into “a navigation center; 24/7 emergency shelter, or other similar activities.” The flyer also included the time and location of Tuesday’s town hall.
“I’m here because I have a lot of concerns in terms of the location for this use case,” Arvada homeowner Kara Rowland said.
Rowland said she’s lived in Arvada for more than five years. Her home is about a quarter-mile from the old college.
“I’m certainly empathetic and want to help this crisis, not just that we’re having here in Arvada, but in the state of Colorado, nationally,” Rowland said. “I understand homelessness is a problem a lot of people are trying to solve, but being a mom of 2 small children, living down the street from where they’re looking to put a potential 24/7 emergency care facility is concerning in lots of ways.”
Tuesday, Mayor Simpson clarified the center would not operate as a traditional shelter model.
“We have to be able to find these people and get them back on their feet. When we do that, that’s a long-term investment in disrupting the cycle of homelessness,” Simpson said.
Simpson said there have been non-city approved flyers distributed about the center she believes are spreading falsehoods.
“I’ve had a lot of residents contacting me after receiving flyers that have been left on their doors, asking, what is this? Generally speaking, they’re scared,” Simpson said. “I would be scared too if I had a list of drugs, crime, litter, coming into my neighborhood where I’m trying to raise my kids, of course, they’d feel that way and rightfully so but that’s not what we’re looking at. That’s not what we’re doing.”
Tuesday’s town hall began with a short presentation on what the navigation center could look like, but attendees were more invested in asking questions and getting answers. At multiple points, the mayor threatened to end the meeting if order wasn’t restored.
She said the town hall was the first of many. She said she wants the community to have a voice in what happens in their neighborhood.
“This is for us to say, ‘Hey, this is what we’re looking at,’” Simpson said. “It isn’t for those people far away that are scary. This is for people in our community that are hurting. These are for people you probably know and love.”
She said many details are still in preliminary discussions like if there will be referrals for entry and what non-profit will be chosen to operate the center.