As tents outside the State House multiply, Cranston Street Armory will be a warming station
PROVIDENCE — Gov. Dan McKee has turned to the historic but mostly empty Cranston Street Armory to give Rhode Islanders living on the street a warm place to go this winter.
His administration plans to open a 24-hour "warming station" in the 115-year-old castle-like building that will function as a temporary emergency shelter.
"The vision for this project is to serve as a temporary, low-barrier option that will immediately provide a safe indoor space for some of the most vulnerable people in this population, regardless of shelter or housing availability on any given night," McKee's office announced in a news release.
The "warming station" will open "as soon as possible" and stay open through April 15, the release said.
A letter from Secretary of Housing Josh Saal to social-service providers says it should open by Dec. 7 and have a capacity of 50 people. State officials would not say Wednesday whether the facility will include beds.
The shelter will be located in the "ballroom" on the first floor of the building's East Head House, according to a letter to the state fire marshal, and be separated from the rest of the complex, including the central drill hall that has recently been used as an event space and film sound stage.
The ballroom is 4,000 square feet and the entire armory 190,000 square feet.
The state plans to hire a social-service provider to run the warming station; the exact types of services that will be offered there have not yet been defined.
The letter to potential operators says they will need to provide food, equipment, security and case management.
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The announcement comes as Rhode Island's housing crisis shows no signs of abating, and combating homelessness has become a high-profile issue.
More than two dozen people without homes are living in tents outside the State House, and their numbers continue to grow.
The encampment, which was made up of 21 tents a week ago, had grown to 30 tents by Wednesday as McKee and his family prepared to host a State House Christmas tree lighting ceremony at 6:15 p.m.
Before the ceremony, McKee asked Saal to make sure hot meals were distributed to the tent residents and to invite them to the tree lighting.
Last week, McKee committed $1.4 million to pay for 75 additional shelter beds in the state, bringing the total new beds funded in 2022 to 351. He also dedicated $9.5 million in federal funds for legal services to help low-income households in danger of homelessness.
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A procession of governors have struggled to figure out the best use for the armory, built in 1907, since the National Guard moved out in 1996. It has served as storage, office space for the fire marshal and a movie set for several films.
In 2019 after a series of community outreach meetings, the state went out to bid for a private company to run the property and defray some of the significant maintenance and operating costs.
It is not clear what came out of that process.
Department of Administration spokeswoman Laura Hart last week said that Scout Urban, one of the companies that responded to the request for proposals "has been working with a number of stakeholders to develop a long-term vision."
Last week, the State Properties Committee approved a request to use the armory for a World Cup soccer watch party.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Cranston Street Armory will be a warming station until April 15
