Funds from B.C. Housing will go a long way towards establishing a new Arrowhead Centre on the former RCMP building property on Dolphin Street this summer.
The provincial housing agency will cover up to 90 per cent of the housing costs for eight new units to built as part of the centre, said the directors of the Arrowhead Centre Society at a public meeting at the Seaside Centre March 27.
Eight housing units, each costing about $85,000, will be built on the western edge of the property (on the Inlet Ave. side), and the former police station will be renovated into a clubhouse to serve as a supported living facility for adults with severe and persistent mental illness, said Dr. Faith Auton-Cuff, the Sunshine Coast manager for Vancouver Coastal Health's (VCH) mental health and addiction Services. Mayor Cam Reid said it's the kind of facility needed in the District of Sechelt and commended the society for forging ahead with the project. The District sold the former police station to the Arrowhead Centre Society for $1 in May 2006.
"We [the RCMP] learned Arrowhead is nothing to be scared of," said Reid, a former Sechelt RCMP staff sergeant.
Floor plans for the clubhouse renovation were finalized in June 2007, and last Thursday was the public's first chance to see the plans. The first floor layout will include a kitchen, dining area, recreation room, meeting room and manager's office, and the second floor will include a caretaker's suite. During the day, two or three staff will assist clients at the centre, typically "marginalized and vulnerable" people, said Auton-Cuff. The centre will provide its clients with nutritious meals, cleaning, laundry service and supported employment in partnership with VCH.
Architect Peter Treuheit said the housing units will be modular buildings, either assembled on site in Sechelt or trucked in as near-finished homes. Four buildings will contain a ground-floor and second floor unit, each about 450 square feet (42 square metres), with small courtyards or semi-private decks. Treuheit said the society may opt for structurally insulated panels to make the units more energy efficient.
Sechelt community planner Andre Boel said the site's existing commercial (C2) zoning already allows residential use on second floor units but will need a development variance permit to allow ground floor housing.
B.C. Housing has also granted the society $41,000 for pre-development costs. If a $10,000 request put to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation is covered, the society will have covered all $50,000 in estimated pre-development costs.
Clubhouse renovations may add up to $450,000, but the society has a $100,000 commitment from Construction Aggregates and some funds potentially coming from B.C. Gaming.
"As much as possible, we'll get volunteer labour and donations," said Valerie Nash, a project consultant. Wakefield Homebuilders and others have committed to contribute material and labour, and Alice Lutes, treasurer of the Sunshine Coast Labour Council, said more tradespeople are willing to help. Jane Hopkins, project co-ordinator for the Sunshine Coast Affordable Housing Taskforce, questioned why the project contains just eight units.
"I can't help thinking there's a capacity for more than eight units," she said. "How aggressive have you been in pursuing those?"
Some questioned why the Arrowhead Centre won't operate as an extreme weather emergency shelter (EWES) as well. (The building is currently set up to run as an EWES on nights where the temperature dips below freezing, but Arrowhead has indicated it won't take on that role once renovations are complete.)
"EWES is a temporary shelter, and attracts a different clientele," explained Boel. "They won't mix."
Denise Herbert, Arrowhead's program co-ordinator, emphasized the centre's goal is to benefit local people with mental health issues, not people recovering from drug addiction or people from off-Coast.
"We're talking about local people here, those who have family here. This is about our community," she said.
