Compromise May Keep CASPAR Shelter at MIT

A "surprise announcement" from MIT Monday morning could spell the end of a substance abuse shelter's search for a permanent location, according to a Cambridge City Council press release. In the Monday announcement, MIT agreed to build a new building for the CASPAR shelter in its current location on 240 Albany Street.

CASPAR, [Cambridge and Somerville Program for Drug Abuse and Rehabilitation] a shelter for homeless alcoholics, has been searching for a permanent location to replace its current shelter, three trailers.

MIT spokesperson Ron Suduiko delivered a letter from MIT President Charles Vest to the City Council Monday morning agreeing to let the shelter remain where it is. He delivered the letter just as the council was about to begin a final analysis of proposed sites for the shelter.

According to Mark Clough, Head Multi-Service Counselor at CASPAR, "It would be absolutely fantastic," if MIT's plan were adopted.

"We'd be right here at our present location," but in a new building, Clough said. Clough said that the Albany Street site was convenient for the shelter.

City Councillor Jonathan S. Myers, who has chaired a special committee to find a site for the shelter, called Monday's announcement "a positive development, although there are some remaining issues to be worked through," in the council's press release.

"I think the rethinking on MIT's part shows a certain sensitivity to the community. MIT should be thanked for this work," Myers said.

MIT owns the 240 Albany building, where the center is currently located, and had originally asked that the center be relocated.

MIT had offered to buy and renovate another building, 380 Green Street, for CASPAR in exchange for title to three Cambridge streets and the sidewalks of a fourth street within the MIT campus.

The proposed move, however, had caused some question among residents of the Central Square area, into which CASPAR would be moving. Some residents and local businesses had complained that the neighborhood's economy could not support the shelter.

Central Square residents also said that they believed MIT wanted to relocate the shelter to move the homeless away from its campus.

"[The MIT announcement] is also an indication that some of the voices of Central Square residents were heard," Myers said.

The council's negotiating team passed a motion recommending acceptance of the MIT offer. It also moved that "the negotiating team now turn its attention to looking at the issue of fair compensation for the site."

The council is considering sale of the streets on the MIT campus to compensate for renovating CASPAR's site.