AMHERST — The public received a presentation over Zoom on Sept. 25 about conceptual plans for the new shelter and supportive housing that is being developed at the site of the former Amherst Veterans of Foreign Wars on 457 Main St.
The Narrow Gate, a Boston-based architecture firm partnering with the town of Amherst on the project, provided plans to the public based on prior community feedback and determined that the site is viable for the type of shelter and housing that Amherst is looking for.
“In Amherst, we have a goal to better meet the needs of folks who aren’t served by our current housing market,” said Greg Richane, Amherst’s housing coordinator. “Unfortunately, some of those folks experience homelessness. And we want to help those folks stay safe and supported in the short term. And in the long term, we want to help them find stable and dignified housing options that meet their needs in the long term.”
Background
The town purchased the Amherst VFW building from Earl J. Sanders Post 754 for $775,000 using American Rescue Plan Act funds.
David Ziomek, Amherst’s assistant town manager, said that VFW was willing to sell the building because they were interested in merging with another VFW organization.
With the property in hand — which is about 1.5 acres in all — the town plans to demolish the current structure on the property and redevelop it into a housing and shelter facility.
“What is happening in the shelter world right now is that shelters are redesigning and really looking at how can they best shelter people, but then how can they get them housed as quickly as possible,” Ziomek said. “It’s called the ‘Housing First Model.’”
Ziomek emphasized how this facility would follow that blueprint.
September meeting updates
The meeting on Sept. 25 was a follow-up to a public meeting in June where the community offered input for the anticipated redevelopment of the former VFW. The presentation of conceptual plans from The Narrow Gate was inspired by the process of receiving town and community feedback.
During the meeting, Richane said he feels that the VFW shelter offers solutions for supportive and long-term housing that encompasses the town’s goals in that realm.
“In the past couple decades, this approach where we think beyond shelter, specifically to permanent solutions in the form of housing, have become a best practice nationally, and as you might expect, Massachusetts funding models now prioritize that approach,” Richane said.
A conceptual design of the shelter and housing presented at the Sept. 25 meeting orients the shelter portion of the site in the front where pedestrian traffic, public transit and shuttle drop-off is located. The supportive housing portion sits in the back where there is better access to housing.
Sara Briggs, a representative from The Narrow Gate, said that if this design was built, then the shelter will have a smaller footprint with a maximum of two stories, and the permanent supportive housing would take up more space.
Briggs said The Narrow Gate worked with the human services organization Craig’s Doors to gather data about the interior of the shelter, which Briggs said can be flexible.
“For example … we have some like social services and dining, and maybe those are flipped,” Briggs said.
According to Briggs, the shelter is expected to have a welcoming entry plaza with clear wayfinding and sheltered outdoor waiting space in case someone has to wait outside when there is bad weather.
As for the interior, Briggs said the plan is to have 40 shelter bunk beds that might be split by gender, but that has yet to be determined.
The shelter will also have the necessary amount of shower facilities and adjacent administrative space, according to Briggs, and will most likely house services provided by Craig’s Doors.
“We’re kind of looking at a pretty condensed version of what Craig’s Doors program offers, and some of this stuff is offered currently, and some of it is more based on what a future building might hold for them,” said Joe Lambert, a representative from The Narrow Gate. “[We’re] providing a building to have to permanently house this program is really an important part of what we’re trying to design for.”
The permanent housing portion of the site is expected to have a dedicated entry, two backyard spaces; and each floor will hold 10 units where one unit on each floor is fully accessible and the rest are adaptable.
In all, the current conceptual design shows 30 permanent supportive studio housing units at 350 square feet in each unit, and a total of 20 parking spaces.
“It is viable, it can be done,” said Bob Wegener, one of the partners with The Narrow Gate. “This can be done to achieve that threshold of permanent supportive housing units, the shelter space…and all the other uses that would be a part of the, the shelter facility.”
There are a couple challenges at the site, according to Wegener, including limited frontage and the site’s close proximity to the railroad.
“Things can be done to mitigate noise,” Wegener said. “There might want to be some kind of vibration study just to see how much the ground is vibrating or feels the impact of trains going by.”
Wegener said the next steps of the project include finding developing partners to take on the project and operate facilities. A request for proposals will eventually go out and the town will go through a permitting process once the design is officially completed. Construction will begin sometime down the line after that and take about a year to a year-and-a-half.
Once the project exits the current conceptual design phase and enters a schematic design phase, the town will have a more concrete plan for the project with specific programmatic ideas.
