Amid Pressure, Garcetti Reverses Plan To Close Homeless Shelter

A spokesperson for Mayor Garcetti said the emergency shelter at Pan Pacific Park would remain open, after it was revealed the shelter was set to close on Tuesday. News of the planned closure broke only 24 hours ahead of the shelter's final date, drawing public ire on Twitter.

The rec center was converted into a temporary homeless shelter on March 20 in response to the initial surge of the coronavirus. The shelter contains 73 beds and is the 3rd largest emergency shelter in Los Angeles, and quickly filled to capacity upon opening.

An August 10 update at the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks indicates that no city recreation centers are accepting new applicants for people experiencing homelessness at this time.

A spokesperson for the rec center said some of the shelter's residents would be moved to another location at Westwood Recreation Center under the original planned cancellation. It was unclear how many residents would be able to relocate.

The shelters are part of a multi-pronged approach by the City of Los Angeles to house people affected by homelessness during the coronavirus pandemic. The city also worked with the state and county to create Project Roomkey, which attempts to use vacant hotel rooms as temporary living quarters for people experiencing homelessness who are at high-risk of hospitalization.

Project Roomkey, which initially promised to open up 15,000 rooms across Los Angeles, got off to a slower start than anticipated. Only 4,177 rooms had been leased as of August 14, according to data from the Los Angeles County Emergency Operations Center. Of those 4,177 rooms, 452 were unoccupied.

Patch has reached out to Mayor Garcetti for comment.