Salvation Army not buying P.E.I. men's shelter

The Salvation Army has decided not to take over the Island's only shelter for homeless men, Bedford MacDonald House, as planned.

The shelter has been closed since June. The shelter was able to house up to eight mena night.

Bedford MacDonald House has always been run by a board of directors, since it opened in the 1980s.

But, that board had hoped the larger, better equipped Salvation Army could take it over.

Last spring, the shelter board ran into trouble.

A man they hired to work at the shelter was charged with sexual assault against a client. But still, the Salvation Army continued the process to take it over.

Both the province and the city promised funding for the Salvation Army to do the job.

By June, the board shut down the shelter to allow theorganization to take over operations. But that never happened.

Last week, theSalvation Armytold the board it wouldnot be going ahead with the deal.

"Essentially it came down to as a new owner, we were required to make a bunch of renovation and upgrade changes," said Lt. Ian Scott for the Salvation Army in Charlottetown.

"The value of the property, the condition of some of the internal structure, things that we would have to upgrade as a new owner itcame down to really a cost factor."

Meanwhile the board of Bedford MacDonald House still hopes to reopen the shelter.

Board members are meeting with the province on Monday.

They say the city haspromised to pitch in $15,000.

But, according to the board member, the shelter won't be able to reopen without significant funding from the province.

If the Bedford MacDonald House Board securesthe funding, they say they'll be looking to hire three employees to work at the shelter.

They say they intend to change their hiring practices to ensure the shelter is a safe place for clients