SOUTH BEND, IN (WSBT) — The future of a low-barrier homeless reception center in South Bend could take a surprising turn.
All year, city officials, Motels4Now leaders and neighbors of a proposed site have been divided over whether to build the New Day Intake Center on Bendix Drive.
In the first public update on this project in months, those responsible are trying to find a new location and are close to securing another site.
However, the project leaders do not provide any details about where this might be.
A lively debate earlier this year about the location of the New Day Intake Center could take a new turn months later when city leaders announce they are eyeing a new location.
Officials at the center say it will replace Motels4Now, which has been housing homeless people in South Bend since 2020.
Initially, project leaders hoped to purchase a property north of the South Bend Community School Corporation bus station on Bendix Drive.
This proposal prompted home and business owners in the area to raise concerns, particularly about child safety due to the site’s proximity to a daycare center and parks.
Project leaders said it was a needed resource in the community and rejected accusations that it posed a safety threat.
“We’ve been looking at alternative sites since the beginning of the year, so obviously for a long time, for years. There was a site on Bendix earlier this year that caused a lot of controversy,” said Mayor James Mueller (D) of South Bend.
For weeks the groups argued about whether to go there.
The district has even formed a task force to develop other options.
Center officials said the land had not been rezoned for the project in May, even though the city government said it was looking for a new site.
Despite WSBT 22’s efforts to obtain more information and solicit public opinion on the project in the past, neither city officials nor the center’s organizers are disclosing where the proposed new location will be.
“We have looked for other locations and believe that we are close to finding another location, but until that is finally decided, I cannot tell you anything,” said Mayor Müller.
Some are now wondering if this means that the Bendix site is off the table.
“If we can secure this other location, then definitely,” said Mayor Müller.
The center’s leaders say they plan to release more information on this new site in the coming weeks.
