Hygiene Center Has Neighbors In Lather
In the face of a lawsuit, a nonprofit group is going ahead with plans to renovate an old downtown hotel into low-income housing and a hygiene center for homeless people.
Many nearby merchants are protesting the plan by the Low Income Housing Institute of Seattle.
The building owner next door to the Glen Hotel, Dave Gellatly, sued to stop the project. He fears the hygiene center will derail his effort to sell his building, the Mann. A trial is scheduled for Nov. 27.
A hygiene center “has merit, and I’d be willing to contribute to it financially,” said Larry Abbott, owner of the Rare Coin Galleries of Seattle Inc., across the street from the hotel. “But to place it in an area you’re trying to revitalize as retail is insanity.”
The institute’s plans for renovation include 38 low-income units on the top two floors, and a hygiene center with public showers, restrooms and a laundry in the basement to serve between 500 and 800 people a day.
Sharon Lee, the institute’s executive director, said the hygiene center will have three to five people on duty and will be well-monitored, somewhat like an athletic club. It does not include a waiting area inside.
Some merchants are concerned about the potential for people milling on the street waiting to use the facility.
Lee said a waiting area inside isn’t necessary because “we don’t think everyone will use the bathrooms at the same time, and there’s no reason to hang around a restroom. We’ll make sure people don’t loiter.”
Shelly Yapp, director of the Preservation and Development Authority, which manages Pike Place Market, said she thinks a hygiene center downtown can be compatible with retail stores. “But I can guarantee you, where there is high demand at certain times of the day, there’s no question there will be lines and people hanging around,” Yapp said. “I think very strongly it would be a big mistake not to include a queuing-up area.”
The city is giving the institute a $190,000 grant for the center, citing the severe lack of such facilities downtown.