File photo (Image credit: CFJC Today).

By Mel Rothenburger

ARMCHAIR MAYOR

ROTHENBURGER: City caught flat-footed with sale of The Loop drop-in property

Apr 17, 2024 | 5:55 AM

CHEERS OF APPROVAL have already begun over the impending closure of The Loop after the announced sale of its current leased building.

The Loop is a volunteer-run drop-in centre that provides meals and other occasional services for street people on the North Shore, and it has a chequered history there.

It is an eyesore in the heart of the Tranquille Corridor retail district and has been the subject of frequent calls to police, bylaws and emergency services over the past few years. Disagreements among clients have sometimes become unruly out on the street.

At one point, the City declared it a nuisance property.

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Recently, a portable fence was erected around the front of it to act as a screen in an attempt to assuage concerns about its unsightly appearance.

The building’s sale to realtor Brendan Shaw includes a 20-day vacate notice to The Loop. For its detractors, it couldn’t have come too soon. The removal of The Loop will clean up a highly visible intersection in the North Shore’s main shopping area, so nearby businesses will benefit.

Or, will they? And will residents of the adjacent McDonald Park neighbourhood be breathing sighs of relief, or soon wishing The Loop or something like it would re-enter the picture?

The problem is that the hundred or so a day people who currently access The Loop will have to go somewhere else, and the sad fact is there’s nowhere else in that part of the city they can get the same services they get now.

That could mean they’ll end up congregating in the surrounding neighbourhood, along the Tranquille Road sidewalks, or migrating to Victoria Street West.

Since last September, a City-sponsored group called the Kamloops Access Hub Leadership Committee has been talking about a new facility on the North Shore but, so far, it’s a plan without a home.

And once again, Kamloops has been caught flat-footed on social issues.

I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.

Mel Rothenburger is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.