Gather Church Pastor Cole Meckle raises a vital question: where will the homeless go? Centralia has much abandoned industrial land nearby. Reminds me of Borah Hall at the University of Idaho.
Four-story, steel doors, block interior walls, concrete floors. It was reputedly modeled on plans for a jail barracks. Cheap and durable, no frills. This could be the answer: a utility building offering dignified one- or two-bedroom fireproof dwellings or minimum security jail housing. Something the concrete and construction lobbies could make money off of.
The only problem is that of NIMBYs. Fact is, the homeless are only a block away. We’d just need to have residency requirements to keep the Seattleites and Portland trash out.
Lewis County can be a leader, more than a bunch of government and social service officials taking tours.
Jon Coulter
Centralia
