PORTLAND, Maine (WGAN) Ground was broken Tuesday on a new 208-bed homeless shelter in Portland.
The new shelter on Riverside Street will replace the city’s aging Oxford Street shelter, which has been plagued by overcrowding in recent years.
Portland Mayor Kate Snyder and other city officials attended the groundbreaking, alongside members of the community and service providers.
Snyder acknowledged that more needs to be done to help the area’s homeless population. “We are at a critical juncture in which real, workable, systemic solutions are needed,” Snyder said Tuesday. “I want to thank city staff and all of our community partners for the work they do and for their commitment in helping us come up with long-term solutions.”
Construction is expected to take a year to complete, at a cost of up to $25 million. City spokeswoman Jessica Grondin says Portland paid $6.5 million up front, with the rest to be financed with a 25-year lease.
To cover the upfront cost, the city approved using $3.5 million in funding from the American Rescue Plan Act and another $3 million from ARPA funding that was made available to Cumberland County.
Portland’s City Council approved the new facility in June 2019.
