ATHENS, Ohio –– Colder weather won’t halt construction at 135 Columbus Road, where renovations to turn a former motel into a family housing shelter are underway.
Sunset Shelter Project –– an effort to provide housing to struggling people in the region –– launched last year and is led by Hocking Athens Perry Community Action and Project Co-Create.
HAPCAP Public Relations Coordinator Valerie Stillson told the Independent that the project is driven by input from residents, civic leaders, and service providers through an open planning process.
Toxicity and safety tests
In July, contractor Greg Beha began lead abatement assessments to the Columbus Road property. To minimize toxicity, its buildings have received a fresh protective coat of encapsulate to cover loose lead, which can flake off over time.
As of the first week of September, contractors were finishing lead abatement work on the final building, Stillson said.
The project safety measures serve future residents, but also the construction workers, Sunset Shelter Project staff and volunteers, and any others that visit the property during renovations.
Even the old Sunset Motel sign has been tested, and has been painted with an encapsulate to contain any toxic lead.
An architectural stand-out for its vintage style, the future of the “MOTEL” sign is an ongoing discussion among project coordinators, Stillson said. No final decisions have been made, and when they are, the public will be notified.
Next construction stages
The non-congregate shelter will house up to 48 people in 27 private units with individual bathrooms, beds, and kitchenettes.
Non-congregate housing provides individual units, as opposed to dormitory-style housing. Unlike many other shelters, the Sunset Shelter will not separate residents by gender, Stillson said.
Sunset Shelter Project initially secured $2 million in grants through the HOME American Rescue Plan Program for reconstruction, which allowed the organization to purchase the multi-building property from the Bhakta family, who, since 1997, ran the Sunset Motel.
The Ohio Department of Development has since awarded the project an additional $2 million grant to help renovate all buildings on the property and update the complex to include a community space, a laundry facility, playground equipment, and upgraded security lighting.
Following the lead abatement safety measures, reconstruction will move forward in phases.
“We don’t have all of the specifics yet,” Jocelyn Howard, housing services coordinator at HAPCAP, told the Independent.
“We’re still working with our architects to determine the final aspects of how the rendering in the building is going to look, but we are pretty close to being able to … put out a bid for a contractor, so that will be the next really big step in moving forward on the physical infrastructure of the building,” she said.
The project’s architect is Engaged RVC Architects. HAPCAP’s impending call for contracting bids to complete reconstruction and other identified needs will be publicly announced, Howard said.
“We’ve done some preliminary [measures] like roof inspections,” Howard said. “Any fixes or modifications that need to be made will be part of the general contractor bid. We’ve also done things like checking the sewer lines and that kind of stuff. This is the time to do any repairs that may possibly need to be done, instead of waiting three years and tearing in.”
Larger infrastructure changes on Columbus Road are in the works, too: the Columbus Road Pathway Project, a roadway revamp managed by the city, will install new crosswalks and other pedestrian-friendly upgrades.
Pathway Project is expected to be completed by next summer, likely coinciding with the shelter’s opening.
Introducing ideas from local voices
Alongside progress on construction, the project is further developing operational plans and practices.
As lead abatement work comes to a close and a next-step contractor is retained, “there is a lot of that behind-the-scenes work going on at the same time,” Stillson said. How the shelter space will run, the resources it will provide, and the facilities it will maintain are current conversations, driven by input from individuals and groups with expertise, she said.
Howard is conducting site visits and converses with staff and directors of other shelters and like organizations to discover best operational practices.
Potential future residents have not yet been identified.
Meanwhile, establishing a close, local network of “partnerships that will benefit our shelter guests once we’re operational” is underway, Howard said.
Community partners are crucial, and Howard said the group is “doing more work to make sure that everyone has a place to come to the table, to be part of this discussion, from the agency standpoint and from the direct services standpoint.”
Sunset Shelter Project has already aligned with other organizations providing local services including Integrated Services, The Gathering Place, and Athens-Hocking-Vinton Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services (317) Board.
Stillson and Howard both said that since its start, the project has turned to direct engagement to better understand the project’s potential impact.
The team will hold meetings and listening sessions with people with lived experience of lived houselessness to ensure their perspectives are heard.
Potential future residents have not yet been identified.
The project has also sought input from the community more broadly, both in person and digitally. An online survey received over 500 responses, according to HAPCAP.
In August, Project Co-Create facilitated a gathering of nearly 30 locals in Athens. The forum was designed for idea-building and for community members to voice questions and concerns and hear directly from the Sunset Shelter Project team.
The event’s participants determined what they see as the area’s core values, among them: community, compassion, collaboration, and dignity. Attendees agreed that programming at the shelter should be family-friendly, job preparation classes could be beneficial, and residents should have autonomy in their daily choices.
“We’re really trying to make sure with every decision that we’re making that [identified values] are being taken into account,” Stillson said.
Editor’s note: This story has was updated Sept. 15 for clarity regarding HAPCAP’s grant acquisition timeline and to specify that the sign’s lead abatement treatment is not standard paint, but an encapsulate coating.
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