King County officials considering turning old jail into homeless shelter

When Executive Dow Constantine declared a state of emergency three years ago, the city amped up its search for publicly-owned land and buildings that could be used to shelter the homeless. That search has now veered toward the King County jail, though it’s only a vague consideration at this point.

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According to The Seattle Times, King County is beginning to look into transforming the west wing of the King County Correctional Facility into a homeless shelter. For years, the Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention has been trying to find a way to re-use the space, and is conferring with Constantine’s office to see if this is feasible.

The latest one-night count found 11,643 homeless people in Seattle and King County as a whole. The bulk of the homeless population was found to be within Seattle’s city limits, with 3,857 unsheltered and 4,665 sheltered. Seattle is increasing its homeless shelter capacity this month, with 97 new places for people to stay.

Currently, the jail’s west wing contains offices and classrooms. It previously held minimum-security inmates in 435 beds and was later shut in 2012 for budgetary reasons.

While the space would work well as a shelter on a space and location level, much renovation would be required, and officials told The Seattle Times that they’re only doing primary research. They are nowhere any kind of planning stage.

No matter how much renovation is done, part of the concern is the message that might be sent by housing homeless people in a former prison.

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