Downtown Business Owners Protest Proposed Shelter Village Location

THUNDER BAY — City administration is recommending the Miles Street location as the site for a temporary shelter village. Rilee Willianen, drug strategy specialist and encampment response plan lead, said the city received 700 responses through a public survey. Sixty-eight per cent of respondents said they preferred the location at 114 Miles St East over Kam River Heritage Park, according to the city’s press release.

When asked if the administration looked at other potential sites in the city, Willianen said, the Miles Street and Kam River Heritage Park locations best fit their criteria, such as municipally owned properties, close to supportive services, and accessible to emergency services. However, local business owners in the downtown Fort William area are unhappy with the decision. “All the people that are impacted directly in the area are 100 per cent against it. But people that live on the other side of the city or live outside the city or whatever, filling out surveys online say, yeah, we support it because it doesn't affect us,” said chair of the Fort William BIA Aldo Ruberto. The Fort William BIA has stated that they are strongly opposed to the temporary shelter village project because they believe there will be an adverse effect on the south side downtown core. Jennifer Hoard, owner of Bella Curves & Pleasure Zone, said she is closing her doors on May Street because she’s had enough. “I've been fighting a fight for two years and I'm having to throw in the towel because I'm right on the main road of May Street,” Hoard told Newswatch. She said she’ll be re-opening her business on Algoma Street at the end of January. “I spent $40,000 fixing it up to make it presentable, to represent what my business is about – which is acceptance and mental health. And now, I have to leave the area,” Hoard sai

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