Sulzbacher Center begins to head from Downtown to the Northside
The expectation is that within the next two to three years, the Sulzbacher Center’s downtown location won’t exist anymore. A spokesperson for the Sulzbacher Center says the center’s move is what its management has been trying to do for some time.
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Many Jacksonville neighbors like Ginnea Thompson say the center’s current location is a problem.
“Sometimes I stay in my car or I just try to avoid it as much as possible,” Thompson said.
Jacksonville City Council voted to rezone 16.7 acres of undeveloped land off Interstate 95 and Golfair Boulevard to build a homeless shelter. Cindy Funkhouser with Sulzbacher Center says the plan is to bring 100 affordable housing apartments to the spot, as well as their wraparound services.
“We are partnering with Goodwill and FSCJ making a very large job training program at that location,” she said. “All of our health clinics, training programs primary care, dental, behavioral health, substance abuse treatment, optical ... all of that is available for the community.”
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Nearly a year ago, Action News Jax told you that the Sulzbacher Center could potentially move to the former Fairfax Street Wood Treaters Superfund site, but the district’s councilman, Garrett Dennis, knew there would be immediate concerns with its location, which included being next to a school.
“The first location was on Fairfax near a residential neighborhood and they were devoted to finding a suitable location for their village and this is a suitable location,” he said.
Going from a residential to industrial area, Funkhouser says there’s no housing within a mile of the location and there were several community meetings held about it.
“They’re not a danger to anyone, we do national background checks, we understand the perception and we wanted the community to feel comfortable,” she said.
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For neighbors like Thompson, who says she stops by Downtown weekly, she says it can only improve the area.
“That would be good for tourist attraction as well,” she said.
Action News Jax is told that the move will be done in two phases and cost roughly $46 million. Funkhouser said that most, if not all of the cost, would be paid for through federal pass through money and private investment dollars.
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