"Speaking for myself, the general sense is that we would have preferred a maintenance of the status quo," said Richard Dana, 51, a painter who has had a studio at Randall for three years. "There's a bit of apprehension about a big, large administrative entity coming in. On the other hand, being here with the Corcoran could be a great experience."
Bergen said that the Corcoran hopes to maintain the studios for the artists now based at Randall, although she cautioned that no commitment can be made until after the museum takes possession of the property. "We would love to see what accommodations we can make for them," she said.
Brian Marr, 32, waits in line at 130-bed emergency shelter at the former Randall Junior High School in Southwest. The city is closing the shelter Nov. 3.
(Michael Temchine - For The Washington Post)
|
|
District officials tout the Corcoran's investment as a potential trigger for economic development in a neighborhood that's now home to the Department of Motor Vehicles inspection station and many units of low- and moderate-income housing. Randall is about a half-mile from the largely industrial site where the District hopes to build a new baseball stadium.
Margaret Feldman, a member of the Southwest Neighborhood Assembly, said community leaders are pleased that the shelter is closing. "It looks bad, it's untidy, it doesn't create a wholesome neighborhood," she said.
But she also said she's concerned about what the men who live there will do next. "I hope there's somewhere else for them to go," she said.
The closing of Randall eliminates a downtown shelter less than a year after the Gales shelter, which provided 150 beds, shut down at 65 Massachusetts NW. The Franklin School Shelter, a 160-bed facility at 13th and K streets, is slated to close next year.
"It's a bit of a pattern, having shelters that are more centrally located close down," said T.J. Sutcliffe, executive director of So Others Might Eat, a homeless advocacy group. "When you look at location, they're not in the downtown area; they're further out."
Sutcliffe said the District should not only replace Randall with an equivalent facility in Southwest but also add another shelter downtown when Franklin closes. "The administration has to look at providing shelter for folks in all parts of the city, including the downtown and Southwest," she said.
French said that the city is seeking a new site for a downtown men's shelter, but that the search has become arduous as real estate values have risen. Referring to existing downtown shelters, French said: "Many were first assembled when no one was using the buildings. They got it at the point when the city was broke and broken."
French said the District is seeking to create a new shelter in Southwest, although it will not be a 12-hour emergency shelter like Randall. It will be what she described as "supportive housing," in which homeless people stay for a longer period and receive mental health and drug counseling.
Referring to Randall, she said, "We don't think that kind of place serves a good purpose. What we have now, you line up and fall into bed. There's not even a place for your belongings."
But homeless advocates said that Randall, for better or worse, is a place to which the men have formed an attachment, which makes it more likely that they will come in off the street when temperatures fall.
"It's a constant and stable routine," Luby said. Closing the shelter "increases the potential for men who always come in to not come in. It takes them out of the neighborhood. We're a neighborhood-bound people, and people who are homeless are no different."
Outside the shelter on a recent morning, several men said they had become accustomed to staying at Randall and were familiar with the meal schedules of churches in the neighborhood.
Clyde Gant, 60, an Army veteran who said he has been staying at the shelter for six months, called the decision to close the shelter "insensitive" on the part of the mayor. "He doesn't care about us," Gant said.
He said that he was not sure where he'll go, but that he's resigned to leaving. "It's time to move on," he said.
