FOLLOWUP: Plan scrapped for small shelter at Admiral Church

Last fall, we reported on Admiral Church‘s plan to partner with Operation Nightwatch to host an overnight shelter for 10 men. After meetings in October and November to answer neighborhood questions, last we heard was that the shelter wouldn’t start up before December. Two more months have passed, and now the church has publicly announced that the plan is scrapped, via a “community announcement” on its website:

The hoped-for partnership between Admiral Church and Operation Nightwatch to offer overnight shelter to ten men living on the streets of Seattle is unfortunately not going to be possible. After further study, Nightwatch decided that several building issues, including having only two bathrooms and no openable windows in the sanctuary, make Admiral non-ideal for their purposes.

Admiral Church says Operation Nightwatch is pursuing partnerships with other local churches; we’ll be following up on that.

Meantime, separate from that, the church also has announced that it’s again considering “repurposing of at least part of our property” because of a “looming financial crisis,” and it’s having a community meeting at 2 pm February 20th for everyone interested. Pre-pandemic, the church was pursuing potential site redevelopment, but that’s been on the shelf for 2+ years.

Alki resident February 8, 2022 (8:53 pm)

You can’t shelter because windows don’t open. Could there be a more lame excuse? I’m willing to be there was a neighborhood uproar. If so, kudos.

Rara February 9, 2022 (2:12 pm)

Alki Resident, that’s not the neighborhood, that’s fire code. Please don’t assume things from your neighbors.

Lucy February 8, 2022 (8:58 pm)

This is sad. I worked with Operation Nightwatch intermittently for over four years at their CD location. We cooked a wonderful meal from scratch for 80-100 people, served and cleaned up. The operation was secure and well staffed and professionally run. This is a very trustworthy organization. I’m sad they didn’t get the support they needed.

West Seattle Resident February 9, 2022 (7:34 am)

The building is not safe in case a fire occurs, the windows don’t go up. It is safe enough to be a church but residential zoning for fire requires even more safety. I agree, it is a shame, but I understand the reasoning.
UCC member February 9, 2022 (7:55 am)

The issue was the Nightwatch didn’t want the facility due to the issues mentioned in the article. Nightwatch is using a different church nearby.

Yma February 9, 2022 (5:47 am)

The article above states that Nightwatch felt they couldn’t use the location because of some building issues. So it looks like they got the support needed but the logistics didn’t work out. Which I find too bad & would hope that, going forward, they vett the physical space in the earliest phase, rather than later.

Duffy February 9, 2022 (7:28 am)

I actually commend the decision here even though I’m a supporter of coming up with new ways to provide services to those in need. If the infrastructure is lacking, don’t cut corners just to move forward. Hopefully they find a place that works.