On three sides, Edmonton’s Boyle Street Community Services is now surrounded by land owned or soon to be owned by ICE District Joint Venture.
“We become poorer as a city if we displace people,” Julian Daly, the executive director of Boyle Street, says.
“I’m feeling really glad that we bought the building and the land that we’re on because we want to stay where we are,” he adds.
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Daly spoke with Global News one day after ICE District Joint Venture announced plans to buy the MacDonald Lofts. The building for the “hard-to-house” is located just to the west of Boyle Street.
“A lot of vulnerable folks housed there are on low incomes,” Daly explained.
The agency indicates it continues to work on its plans and that the purchase of the MacDonald Lofts building won’t put any pressure on them to leave.
“Our city is richer for having a diverse and inclusive inner city and downtown,” Daly explains.
“We want to have allowance for people to stay in that community,” Scott McKeen, the city councillor for the area, says.
McKeen says he has “no problem defending Boyle Street Community Centre’s right to stay on the land they’re on.”
However, he says he supports a revitalized Boyle Street to reduce social disorder and improve perception.
“A lot of these modern facilities are really well run. There’s a house facility in McCauley, where it’s managed alcohol and those people cause no problems.”
The Katz Group hasn’t indicated any interest in the Boyle Street property.
The social agency indicates whatever happens in the future, decisions will be made in the best interest of the clients they serve.
“We always have an open mind to what that might mean,” Daly says. “So, never say never about anything.”
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