'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."
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is pushing for special rapporteur David Johnston to 'step aside' from his role examining the issue of foreign interference before he embarks on public hearings.
New Democrat MP Jenny Kwan said Monday that Canada's spy agency has confirmed her long-held belief she is being targeted by the Chinese government, as the prime minister granted the NDP's wish to allow more party members to review top-secret intelligence.
William Karlsson, William Carrier and Jonathan Marchessault are finally getting another chance in the Stanley Cup Final, after the first one that came so quick for the Vegas Golden Knights.
Eastern Conference finals Most Valuable Player Jimmy Butler scored 28 points, and Caleb Martin had 26 points and 10 rebounds to help the eighth-seeded Miami Heat beat the Celtics 103-84 in Game 7 on Monday night and advance to the NBA Finals for the second time in four seasons.
Canadian political leaders and parliamentarians are denouncing a new law passed in Uganda that imposes harsh penalties, including the death penalty, for certain cases involving homosexuality.
There's a heightened risk of wildfires across the country during what has been one of the earliest fire seasons on record. From British Columbia to Nova Scotia, here's where the risk is highest.
New research from Penn State University found certain factors can contribute to reducing what’s known as the 'urban heat island' effect, and that climate knowledge can contribute to better city planning and design.
One long-time electoral tradition came to an end on election day, when Postmedia announced there would be no printed newspaper announcing the winner in Calgary.
In a province where there are vast distances between cities and towns, one local group is hoping to get public support for an idea to bridge those gaps with a rail line.
The first twister of 2023 in the country touched down near Regina over the weekend, according to an analysis from the Northern Tornadoes Project (NTP).
One person from Estevan, Sask. is dead and another is seriously injured following a collision between a pickup truck and a motorcycle on May 28 near Fortuna, North Dakota.
The union representing the majority of Quebec's daycare workers is criticizing the government's decision to launch a skimpy 90-hour training program for people who want to be daycare workers but have no prior experience.
A Quebec driver who caused the death of another motorist when he swerved his truck to avoid hitting a family of ducks on the road has been sentenced to eight months in jail and a three-year driving ban.
The Sandy Hill Child Care Centre has an extra two weeks to get its new home up to code months after a fire destroyed its original site on Wilbrod Street.
Ottawa police are praising a local dad for quickly calling for help Sunday afternoon when he accidentally locked his keys in his car, and his infant child along with them.
Ontario Provincial Police say a driver from Augusta Township is facing an impaired driving charge after someone on Highway 416 spotted a vehicle moving erratically.
The rural Oxford County intersection where an OPP officer and a school bus driver were killed Monday was less than a month away from becoming a four-way stop when the deadly crash happened.
It was a night of indecision at Waterloo region's catholic school board as trustees went back and forth trying to find the best approach to fill a vacant seat.
The body of a Winnipeg boy who fell into Sturgeon Falls on Saturday has been found following a desperate underwater search that lasted more than a day.
A Winnipeg family is asking for help to find their missing teenage son whom they haven't seen since he left for school in the Fort Richmond area last Wednesday morning.
The body of a Winnipeg boy who fell into Sturgeon Falls on Saturday has been found following a desperate underwater search that lasted more than a day.
On Monday, Fraser Health provided two senior leaders to address the latest letter outlining risks to patients, allegations of muzzling, and pleas for help from emergency physicians in the health authority's hospitals.
The president of the BC Trucking Association is issuing renewed calls for safety after a trailer truck smashed into an overhead pass Monday morning in Langley.
Capital Bike is encouraging Greater Victoria residents to choose cycling as a way to get around the region during "Go By Bike Week," which runs from May 29 to June 4.
