Saskatoon downtown shelter: Why isn’t it open? [Video]

Saskatoon’s new downtown shelter must undergo renovations before it can open, according to the operator of the site.

The Mustard Seed, a non-profit from Alberta, has been hired to run the 30 to 40 bed emergency shelter at 210 Pacific Avenue.

CEO James Gardiner says there are “a number of renovations that need to be done.”

“I’d like to be done tomorrow, but I have not been provided a date — and the date is not for us to decide. We’re the operator, and so we’ll be told when it will be ready,” Gardiner told journalists on Thursday.

“I would hope this winter, sometime this winter it’s going to be done.”

The building, formerly the Saskatchewan Transportation Company depot, is owned by the City of Saskatoon and leased to the Government of Saskatchewan to use as a shelter. 

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