Downtown Pittsburgh’s Second Avenue Commons homeless shelter is scheduled to reopen next week nearly five months after a fire forced it to close.
People are expected to begin moving back into the shelter on Oct. 28, with full operations resuming the next day, according to Allegheny County officials.
That will include expanded daytime hours for the drop-in engagement center, where people who need help will be able to stop by between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. every day.
A June 4 fire at the shelter displaced about 175 homeless people, injured four firefighters and two civilians, and forced authorities to temporarily put people up at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.
County Department of Human Services Director Erin Dalton on Monday announced the shelter will reopen slightly ahead of schedule. Officials previously predicted services at the site would resume in November.
The county’s winter shelter plan, which will be in effect from November 15 to March 15, will include 600 shelter beds for single adults at a dozen facilities throughout the county. Shelters will provide overnight and daytime accommodations, hot meals, warm clothing and various services like medical care, counseling and case management.
“Our goal is to ensure that no one has to spend a night out in the cold,” Dalton said.
The “Code Blue” system that had opened up extra shelter beds on the coldest winter days will not be used this year, she said. Instead, shelter and daytime support will be offered every day throughout the winter, not just when temperatures plummet.
Starting Nov. 15, the department will open 105 overflow shelter beds at the following locations: Second Avenue Commons, 40 beds; Salvation Army Women’s Shelter, 20 beds; East End Cooperative Ministry Winter Shelter, 20 beds; Light of Life Winter Shelter, 25 beds.
The county by December 11 — or earlier if existing systems reach capacity — will open an additional winter shelter in partnership with Northside Partnership Project and Community Family Advocates at the Community Resource Mall on Maple Avenue in the city’s Perry South neighborhood.
County officials said the site will be able to provide shelter to anyone who needs a safe place to stay during the winter months. People can get free transportation to that site from Second Avenue Commons.
County officials also touted ongoing efforts to bolster the supply of affordable housing through County Executive Sara Innamorato’s 500 in 500 campaign, which aims to bring online 500 new affordable housing units in 500 days.