A Lake Highlands advocacy group has launched a petition drive to prevent an Army facility from being turned into a center for the homeless.
The Lake Highlands Area Improvement Association would prefer that the Jules E. Muchert Army Reserve Center, in the 10000 block of Northwest Highway, be turned over to the Dallas Park and Recreation Department.
"We want to support homeless resources, but we don't feel that would be an appropriate place," said Robin Moss Norcross, vice president of communications for the improvement association.
... The Army Reserve Center, constructed in 1957, was declared surplus property last year by the federal government and is expected to be vacated by 2009.
The city of Dallas is now coordinating redevelopment proposals for the property.
Five bids for the site were submitted to the city by the Sept. 29 deadline,
... Of the five bids, two are from nonprofit agencies that have indicated that they would like to convert the facility into housing for the homeless.
Central Dallas Community Development Corp., the affordable-housing arm of Central Dallas Ministries, wants to replace the buildings on the site with a community center and a maximum of 50 rental cottages.
... the agency wants to work with shelters and transitional programs to create a gated community for 25 to 50 residents and would have about two acres of open space.
Lifenet Community Behavioral Healthcare, less than a half-mile from the Reserve center, wants to convert the facility into single-occupancy units for homeless people and to provide them with clinical and vocational services.
... Another nonprofit agency, Homeward Bound Inc., which serves people with drug and alcohol addictions, wants to use the facility for counseling, education and rehabilitation programs.
The Dallas County Sheriff's Department wants to use the space to relocate personnel and classrooms being displaced by the Woodall Rodgers extension project.
The department's academy/training division at 521 N. Industrial Blvd. is in the way of a planned Trinity River bridge.
The Dallas Park and Recreation Department wants to use the space for community programming, youth services, regional and district operations, and maintenance. It would also provide an area for community meetings.
The 5.2-acre Muchert Army Reserve Center site was originally Dallas parkland but was sold in the 1950s to the federal government, said Dallas City Council member Bill Blaydes, who represents District 10, where the facility is located.
"The most appropriate use is to let it go back to the park department from which it came," said Mr. Blaydes, who would oppose any effort to convert the facility into a center serving the homeless population.
"It's not an option I would support under any circumstance because that's not what the community wants," he said.
... Housing advocates point out that the 1987 McKinney Act requires federal agencies to identify surplus property that could be used to assist the homeless, and Dallas' Ten Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness calls for 700 additional permanent housing units by 2014.
... some feel that services for homeless shouldn't be concentrated in one area, but scattered throughout a community, Mr. Greenan said.
He feels the Army Reserve Center site would be a good place for the proposed White Rock Cottages because it's near the northeast police station and is separated from existing residential areas.
... But many residents feel that Lake Highlands already has an too many low-income apartment complexes, including some that are poorly managed and have a history of crime and code violations.
"The homeless people are in downtown, and that's where the services need to be," Ms. Norcross said.
The Lake Highlands Area Improvement Association would prefer that the Jules E. Muchert Army Reserve Center, in the 10000 block of Northwest Highway, be turned over to the Dallas Park and Recreation Department.
"We want to support homeless resources, but we don't feel that would be an appropriate place," said Robin Moss Norcross, vice president of communications for the improvement association.
... The Army Reserve Center, constructed in 1957, was declared surplus property last year by the federal government and is expected to be vacated by 2009.
The city of Dallas is now coordinating redevelopment proposals for the property.
Five bids for the site were submitted to the city by the Sept. 29 deadline,
... Of the five bids, two are from nonprofit agencies that have indicated that they would like to convert the facility into housing for the homeless.
Central Dallas Community Development Corp., the affordable-housing arm of Central Dallas Ministries, wants to replace the buildings on the site with a community center and a maximum of 50 rental cottages.
... the agency wants to work with shelters and transitional programs to create a gated community for 25 to 50 residents and would have about two acres of open space.
Lifenet Community Behavioral Healthcare, less than a half-mile from the Reserve center, wants to convert the facility into single-occupancy units for homeless people and to provide them with clinical and vocational services.
... Another nonprofit agency, Homeward Bound Inc., which serves people with drug and alcohol addictions, wants to use the facility for counseling, education and rehabilitation programs.
The Dallas County Sheriff's Department wants to use the space to relocate personnel and classrooms being displaced by the Woodall Rodgers extension project.
The department's academy/training division at 521 N. Industrial Blvd. is in the way of a planned Trinity River bridge.
The Dallas Park and Recreation Department wants to use the space for community programming, youth services, regional and district operations, and maintenance. It would also provide an area for community meetings.
The 5.2-acre Muchert Army Reserve Center site was originally Dallas parkland but was sold in the 1950s to the federal government, said Dallas City Council member Bill Blaydes, who represents District 10, where the facility is located.
"The most appropriate use is to let it go back to the park department from which it came," said Mr. Blaydes, who would oppose any effort to convert the facility into a center serving the homeless population.
"It's not an option I would support under any circumstance because that's not what the community wants," he said.
... Housing advocates point out that the 1987 McKinney Act requires federal agencies to identify surplus property that could be used to assist the homeless, and Dallas' Ten Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness calls for 700 additional permanent housing units by 2014.
... some feel that services for homeless shouldn't be concentrated in one area, but scattered throughout a community, Mr. Greenan said.
He feels the Army Reserve Center site would be a good place for the proposed White Rock Cottages because it's near the northeast police station and is separated from existing residential areas.
... But many residents feel that Lake Highlands already has an too many low-income apartment complexes, including some that are poorly managed and have a history of crime and code violations.
"The homeless people are in downtown, and that's where the services need to be," Ms. Norcross said.
