Sturgis officials mull over extreme weather center

Dan Cherry, Sturgis Journal
·2 min read

STURGIS — A renewed effort to provide an extreme weather warming center in Sturgis is to be brought to the Sturgis City Commission on Wednesday for consideration.

City staff has had discussions with Kristi Boughton from the St. Joe Community Co-op, as well as other officials, about the potential for an extreme weather overnight shelter in the basement of the Co-op’s building at 307 W. Chicago Road, known as the "Old Journal Building."

Such a center would only open under life-threatening weather emergencies and would not serve as a homeless shelter, the co-op said. The issue of homelessness in Sturgis has been a topic being addressed by area churches.

This image, courtesy of the Sturgis Extreme Weather Overnight Warming Center, shows a cot and items that would be available for use to someone in need of emergency accommodations due to displacement by severe weather.
This image, courtesy of the Sturgis Extreme Weather Overnight Warming Center, shows a cot and items that would be available for use to someone in need of emergency accommodations due to displacement by severe weather.

In 2020, Sturgis public safety department staff worked with the Salvation Army and other volunteer groups on a warming center plan. The Salvation Army on North Fourth Street in Sturgis is no longer able to participate in the plan as hoped, prompting the co-op to move forward with meeting the need.

The goal of the new effort is to provide an extreme weather shelter that can be operated overnight to house people during set conditions. The proposed location at 307 W. Chicago Road presently holds difficulties for use as an overnight housing center due to current zoning, building and fire code stipulations.

The location currently could take in people in as a place to stay warm, including overnight hours, but not to house people overnight.

A change in the city ordinance could provide special conditions on an emergency basis to overcome the existing code issues.

The city commission plans to examine the issue Wednesday, and if it chooses to move forward, city staff recommends the planning commission review draft language and provide a zoning recommendation to the city commission.

An exteme emergency weather center, which operate nationwide, are only activated when temperatures drop to minus-10 air temperature and minus-25 windchill factored in for more than two hours; when 5 inches or more of snow fall, or if cold weather is accompanied by wind and freezing precipitation.

Such a center, which is a nonprofit organization, would only operate if there are sufficient volunteers on hand, and would not be open more than two days past the end of a severe weather event.

The Sturgis City Commission meets at 6 p.m. in the city hall's Wiesloch Raum, 130 N. Nottawa St.

This article originally appeared on Sturgis Journal: Sturgis officials mull over extreme weather center