Mayor Dave Bronson backtracked today and told the Anchorage Assembly that he would no longer take the Spenard and Fairview Recreation Centers, used by children and other members of the community, for emergency homeless shelters as winter approaches.
Mayor Bronson said that the people had spoken and he had listened. He said his administration would be working with the Emergency Shelter Task Force, run by the Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness, to find appropriate shelter options “that meet the needs of our city’s most vulnerable.” ACEH is run by executive director Meg Zaletel, who also serves on the Anchorage Assembly.
The Bronson Administration is faced with having to house hundreds of people who have been staying in the Centennial Campground and other places throughout the municipality this summer. As winter approaches, the need becomes more acute in order to stave off hypothermic death among the homeless.
“Homelessness in Anchorage is one of my administration’s top priorities,” Bronson said to the Assembly on Tuesday. “I’m committed to working with the Anchorage Assembly and our community partners to come up with successful solutions.”
He also said he was open to discussing with the Anchorage Assembly the topic of what to do with the Golden Lion Hotel at the corner of New Seward Highway and 36th Avenue. The city purchased that property for over $9 million when Mayor Ethan Berkowitz was in office, with the intention of turning it into a drug treatment center. It has been appraised for $6 million and the State Department of Transportation has said the state will probably take the parking lot through eminent domain to use for upgrades to the nearby busy intersection.
The Sullivan Arena, which had been used as a homeless shelter since the Berkowitz Administration, was closed to that use in June.
Photo: Parasport Alaska Facebook page, Spenard Rec. Center
