Arctic winds this week will drop overnight temperatures far into the negatives, making it even more dangerous for people to be outdoors for extended periods.
To make room for everyone in need of shelter, Lansing City Councilmember Ryan Kost has proposed the City Hall lobby be opened as an overnight warming center.
The City of Lansing has extended its Code Blue emergency weather plan, which allows shelters to increase capacity and extend overnight hours to keep people warm.
Kost says he spoke with the people in charge of the Letts Community Center’s overnight warming shelter, and that the facility was consistently pushing capacity. Staff told Kost they were bracing themselves for an influx of visitors and a tighter squeeze this weekend.
Kost posted on Facebook Wednesday that he had asked Mayor Andy Schor to consider opening the City Hall lobby to the public as an overnight warming center.
“It’s already heated, and the lights are on all night long in the lobby,” he said. “It’s close to all the necessities like the bus station, the Rescue Mission where they can grab a meal and things like that.”
However, Kost said Schor shut down the idea, citing costs and security concerns. Kost said Schor estimated it would cost around $10,000 to run and monitor security overnight.
The mayor’s office released a statement in response to Kost’s request, saying City Hall cannot be opened overnight because “it houses the District Courts in addition to other sensitive information" and that the city is "required to provide 24/7 full-time security personnel, the security screening and metal detector station" if people are present.
Kost said he doesn’t think that money is a valid excuse for not opening the building to those in need.
“These people are simply cold. We’re not talking about emptying out a prison or a jail and putting them into the lobby of City Hall,” he said. “I don’t think you can put a price tag on someone freezing to death.”
The mayor’s office statement goes on to say “there are places available to go and capacity exists at current overnight warming centers and shelters in Lansing,” and that “no person in Lansing will be left out in the cold if they are willing to come indoors in these frigid temperatures.”
“It’s silly to say that we have enough places if people choose to go at night,” Kost said. “With Letts being packed, the other two being religiously affiliated, some people don’t want to go to those. What we need to focus on is making sure that the person that’s our neighbor doesn’t freeze to death. And that means by any way possible.”
