Portland shuts down its biggest shelter after just one year

PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) - A controversial overnight shelter in Northwest Portland is officially closed, the move comes as the city cuts spending to balance its budget.

Portland’s largest overnight emergency shelter is closed after just one year.

“It was a very expensive solution that didn’t accomplish a heck of a lot, if anything,” said Head of the Pearl District Neighborhood Association’s Northrup Shelter Oversight Committee Linda Witt.

Neighbors call the shutdown a win, arguing crime spiked after it opened.

“All the residents here, all the businesses, after the economic down turn over the last few years and it’s really going to help us to turn that around now that we will no longer have 200-400 transients per day of some of the most vulnerable people in the entire city of Portland,” said Witt.

The city closed the facility Friday to cut costs, but some blame the Mayor directly.

“The mayor promised the people when he ran for election that he was going to eliminate all visible homelessness and this was a key to his plan and it didn’t work out. And instead of deciding that the prescription isn’t working, and advising the patient to stop taking it, he doubled down,” said Attorney John DiLorenzo.

DiLorenzo represents neighboring Pearl District Apartments, which is suing the city and the salvation army over mismanagement—alleging drug use, fights, and loitering.

“350 angry citizens yelled at him in a meeting before the shelter opened there was no doubt that he knew well in advance that this shelter was going to be problematic. Not because of the location, but because of the way they were running it,” said DiLorenzo.

In a statement, the city defended the site saying “in the year that it was in operation, the Northwest Northrup shelter helped hundreds on their way to stability”

But neighbors are glad to see it go.

“Over time the impact of having 200-400 fewer homeless transients per day, I think it is going to have an impact. Now we’re an urban area, we’re always to have our fair share of issues,” said Witt. “But at least we won’t be fighting 200-400 additional transients per day.”

The City of Portland in a statement to FOX 12 said the reason for the closure was purely financial.

“While public safety is always a priority for the City of Portland, the decision to close the NW Northrup Shelter was a financial one,” wrote Laura Rude, communications coordinator for the city. “People experiencing homelessness are far more likely to be victims of crime than their housed neighbors. Fewer safe spaces to go at night will not help those most vulnerable to crime feel more safe in Northwest Portland, unfortunately.”

The Salvation Army tells FOX 12 more than 2,700 people used the shelter over the past year. They are now being directed to shelters across the city, including these locations:

• The Salvation Army Burnside Shelter (SAFES) - 30 SW 2nd Ave - Downtown
• CityTeam Grand - 526 SE Grand Ave - Downtown
• The Salvation Army Moore Street Shelter - 5325 N. Williams Ave - North Portland
• SE Grand Recovery - 636 SE Grand Ave - Downtown
• St. Stephen’s Shelter - 1432 SW 13th Ave - Downtown
• Private Overnight Shelter
• Bethanie’s Room Women’s Shelter (private overnight shelter) – Portland