City officials plan to buy motel to shelter homeless. | Pixabay/Alexander Fox
City officials plan to buy motel to shelter homeless. | Pixabay/Alexander Fox
A La Crosse motel will soon be transformed into temporary housing for those without a place to stay, now that city council approved plans to buy the building to better serve the area's homeless population.
City officials recently decided to move forward with purchasing the Maple Grove Motel, which will be used as a shelter for the homeless while they receive treatment for mental health and addiction, WEAU reported.
"The motel rooms are set up to hold 32 people, so that's a starting point. The city council gave us funding approval to start looking at bridge homes on the property as well," Brian Sampson, homeless services coordinator, told WEAU.
Approximately $1.5 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money will be used to not only buy the property, but also create additional housing with 100-square-foot shelters that have beds, heating and air conditioning with a separate restroom facility, according to WEAU.
Mayor Mitch Reynolds told WEAU the plan is to use the motel as temporary housing for the homeless for few years and eventually turn it into a multi-family housing development.
According to WEAU, the city had an agreement with Econo Lodge to provide temporary housing for the homeless and were paying for the space there with $700,000 in COVID-19 relief funding through the ARPA.
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