THUNDER BAY – A hotel on Dawson Road is planned to have a new life as a residential recovery centre.
Thunder Bay city council on Monday night approved a zoning bylaw that will pave the way for the former Thunder Bay Inn to be purchased by the St. Joseph’s Foundation to be repurposed as a transitional recovery housing and education facility.
The facility, which could accommodate up to 30 patients, would provide 24-hour supervision along with educational support and counselling with a particular focus on relapse prevention, stress management and acquiring life skills.
Nancy Black, St. Joseph’s Care Group’s interim vice president of addictions and mental health, said there is no facility like the one that is proposed that is currently operating in Thunder Bay.
“The proposed service will close an existing gap in the current continuum of care,” Black said.
“Many of the individuals who will benefit from this program find themselves cycling between crisis shelters, emergency services, emergency withdrawal management centres and often criminal justice services and police services.”
Black said patients at the facility would have already been stabilized and not detoxing at the site. The average length of stay is expected to be six to nine months.
There are as many as 40 people in the city that have been identified as meeting the criteria for admittance into the program, Black said.
“People do not enter into these facilities without a lot of forethought and clear information about the expectations before they come,” Black said. “We don’t want people to be walking into this facility and experiencing another failure. We will do everything within our power to ensure the fit is appropriate, that people are ready, willing and able to participate in all aspects of programming.”
Funding for the purchase of the building is being provided by the provincial Ministry of Housing. The facility, which would be run through partnerships with the Thunder Bay District Social Services Administration Board, Alpha Court and Dilico Anishinabek Family Care, is expected to be operational in early 2019.
Five residents on Dawson Road and Hazelwood Drive voiced their opposition to council, with concerns including traffic, location along the highway, property values and their own safety and security.
Jodi Parhiala, the owner of the adjacent 13-unit Seasons Extended Stay Suites, was concerned about the impact the proximity to a residential care facility could have on the reputation of her business, which is 30 metres from the building.
“For us as a business right next door so close, if I get one bad review for an incident of someone wandering onto our property, that’s going to be huge,” Parhiala said. “Our business is based on reviews and right now we have awesome reviews but I’m very worried that if just one incident happens, it’s going to make a big change to our business.”
Coun. Trevor Giertuga, who represents the McIntyre ward where the building is located, was the lone vote against granting the amendment.
While he commended St. Joseph’s Care Group for the work they do in the community, Giertuga said the only reason why the location was recommended for the facility is the existing building and that otherwise it would not be an acceptable site.
“I hear people around here confusing a zoning issue with a people issue,” Giertuga said.
“We just have to look at it from the fact that there are many places in the city where a Residential Care Facility 3 is allowed. Residential Care Facility 3 permits 10 or more. There’s a reason why we have these rules and regulations and there’s a reason why we have the official plan. It’s not like we’re deviating from four to six to go to 10 or 12. We’d be going from four to six to 30.”
Coun. Andrew Foulds acknowledged the concerns of the area residents but said the profound need of the service can’t be ignored.
“We’re going to provide real dignity for 30 people who are living on the street, accessing our shelters. They’re using our (emergency room) when they need other facilities. Our police are spending time with them, our (paramedics) are tied up,” Foulds said.
