ST. LOUIS — Leaders of a controversial downtown homeless shelter shuttered by the city for code violations six years ago said Monday they’re bracing for another round of rejection.
Officials with New Life Evangelistic Center are again trying to reopen their building at 1411 Locust Street as a church, with worship services, a food pantry and office space. They got their permit to make renovations last year.
But some downtown neighbors are fighting them. They say New Life is trying to revive the shelter once accused of fostering loitering, public urination and drug dealing in the heart of the region. They say they can’t trust an institution that once housed hundreds of people per night despite a permit limiting guests to 35.
And for the second time in four years, the neighbors are asking a city appeals board to take away New Life’s building permit.
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Now, with the board scheduled to deliberate on the matter this week, New Life officials told reporters on Monday that they worry their religious freedom will again be ignored.
“This ongoing discrimination against our church cannot be tolerated any longer,†said the Rev. Larry Rice, New Life’s founder.
City officials declined comment Monday. Matt O’Leary, a longtime downtown resident and advocate who challenged New Life’s permit, said Rice had no case.
Rice said his church has spent thousands of dollars bringing the Locust Street building up to code. An old elevator has been sealed off. There are new fire sprinklers in the old gymnasium.
And he said the new center will help downtown by giving people a place to go during the day to get food, counseling and religion.
Rows of bunk beds can still be found on the upper floors, six years after the city closed the shelter. But Rice said that, too, will be sealed off before reopening.
He said he once believed New Life could fight off the city. But he said he now sees the writing on the wall amid a flurry of big development projects in the area.
His grandson, Chris Aaron Rice, is looking for a place to build a new overnight shelter in north ºüÀêÊÓƵ County.
Larry Rice said New Life could then bus people there from the downtown center when it closes in the afternoon.