'It's a beautiful space': Boyle Street secures permit for new location, despite community outcry
'It's a beautiful space': Boyle Street secures permit for new location, despite community outcry
After having its development permit revoked amid public backlash, the leader of Boyle Street Community Services says the agency has a green light to move to a better building.
Last year, 15 groups, including a pair of community leagues and the Victoria School of the Arts Parents Coalition, opposed the permit for a new location in The King Thunderbird Centre.
That building is at the corner of 107A Avenue and 101 Street, about two blocks north of the current location overlooking Rogers Place.
The Subdivision Appeal Board (SDAB) revoked the permit following a hearing on Nov. 10, but after Boyle Street removed certain features like the kitchen, the project was back on track Tuesday.
"It's a beautiful space and it's a statement, I think, to the people that we serve that they matter in our community," said executive director Jordan Reiniger.
"Our current facility on 105 Avenue is quite literally crumbling. There's a lot of infrastructure challenges, it was a banana ripening warehouse, so it's just not meant to do what we're trying to do in there."
Boyle Street provides help to homeless people in Edmonton, including mental health services, cultural support and holiday meals.
The McCauley Community League opposed the new development permit citing improper zoning, some residents had safety concerns and several groups in Chinatown argued the move was a chance to spread out services for vulnerable people to different parts of the city.
“There is a level of social disorder that we see with these agencies that are in the area,” said Hon Leong of the Chinatown Transformation Collaborative Society last summer.
“I would look at it as the first opportunity to act upon [city council's] mission, which is to decentralize social services in this area.”
The Oilers Entertainment Group bought the current Boyle Street building in 2021 and the agency has since raised $22 million of its $28.5 million goal for the new centre.
"It's been a long journey for us to find the right facility for us to get the project going," Reiniger said.
"We've had a lot of hoops to jump through, and so, to be at this place today, we're celebrating and really excited about where we're at and the future of this project."
At the moment, wildfires are burning across six provinces and one territory in Canada — and they’re still spreading in what’s being called an unprecedented fire season. While firefighters work tirelessly to battle the merciless flames and prevent further destruction, scientists say the wildfires are linked to climate change and that this will be the new normal.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he raised concerns about reports that LGBTQ2S+ rights and democracy are under threat in Poland during a Friday visit with its prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, in Toronto.
Air Canada says travellers should be prepared for further flight disruptions as it works to return service to normal following a technical malfunction Thursday.
As more Canadians pass their family cottages down to the next generation, 'major shifts' in the ownership of recreational homes will occur, according to Re/Max. But amid concerns around the cost of housing, some may be wondering whether they can afford to keep that family cottage. Here's what younger generations need to know about inheriting a recreational property and the market today.
A 38-year-old sergeant in the Canadian Army was fined $3,000 and issued a severe reprimand after he made what a military judge described as 'utterly disgusting' anti-Jewish comments while conducting an infantry training course in 2021.
Pierre Poilievre is off to Manitoba to rally Conservative supporters ahead of a byelection that Maxime Bernier is hoping will send him back to Parliament. The far-right People's Party of Canada leader lost his Quebec seat in the 2019 federal vote and lost again in the 2021 election.
The number of people in Canada with inflammatory bowel disease is increasing rapidly and is expected to grow to 470,000 by 2035, according to a new report from Crohn's and Colitis Canada.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he is committed to keeping David Johnston in place as Canada's special rapporteur on foreign interference, despite a majority of MPs voting in favour of his stepping down from the gig.
A dozen sheriffs and Calgary Police officers roamed Calgary's core for three months, but the provincial pilot program is officially over as of this week.
A Calgary father and son face a lengthy list of criminal charges after being arrested in connection with the sexual exploitation, assault and extortion of multiple teen girls.
The Weyburn Police Service (WPS) says it has charged a 27-year-old woman following the theft of several "high-powered" firearms and a large amount of ammunition from a residence in nearby Yellow Grass.
Three Toronto men have been charged with attempted murder after they allegedly shot an innocent dog walker in Schomberg, Ont. in a case of mistaken identity.
Planning to pass time in Montreal's many parks this summer? Check yourself for ticks, warns one woman who recently contracted Lyme disease. Jasmine Rochereul, 23, says she spent much of last summer sprawled in city parks, where she believes she picked up the tick-borne illness.
Gatineau police arrested an 18-year-old man in connection to the investigation into a hidden camera discovered in the washroom at an elementary school.
Residents turning up the air conditioners on the hottest June 1 in Ottawa history likely caused hydro systems to overload, knocking out power to customers in the west end, Hydro Ottawa says.
A popular beach in Bracebridge is open to the public two days after sewing needles were found in the water, but a second beach has since closed over safety concerns.
A bronze statue of Queen Elizabeth that was toppled and damaged by protesters two years ago was put back in its place Friday on the grounds of the Manitoba legislature after a lengthy set of repairs.
In a Canadian first, the University of British Columbia has adapted its early childhood education program to support young people who are deaf and hard of hearing (DHH).
A 38-year-old sergeant in the Canadian Army was fined $3,000 and issued a severe reprimand after he made what a military judge described as 'utterly disgusting' anti-Jewish comments while conducting an infantry training course in 2021.
