Updated 10 p.m. Jan. 16, 2022
The state’s temporary center at Devens to help homeless people in Massachusetts find emergency housing is now open and receiving clients.
The Devens Enterprise Commission, the agency that regulates development within the state-managed community, issued a temporary emergency use certificate of occupancy to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency last Friday, Dec. 9, and the center began receiving clients Monday this week. The certificate authorizes MEMA to use the Bob Eisengrein Community Center at 100 Sherman Avenue for a maximum of six months, subject to a number of conditions.
For Devens residents the opening of the emergency facility means the loss of their only community center for six months. For the state, the center offers a central location at which to temporarily house and provide social and medical services to people in Massachusetts without housing. According to a list of frequently asked questions posted by MassDevelopment, the quasi-state agency that governs Devens, families and individuals brought to the intake center will be housed there for a few days only before being transferred to more permanent housing outside Devens.
DEC’s certificate of occupancy allows MEMA to house up to 125 people in a 40-square-foot-per-person dormitory in the center’s main ballroom, plus 30 staff and volunteers. DEC Director Peter Lowitt told the Press that staff and volunteers would be present mostly during the day, with a few remaining for the night. Three-quarters of the ballroom will be needed for cots to accommodate overnight guests, but enough space will be left to allow socializing and indoor games. Residents will be free to come and go during the day. The space formerly occupied by the Great Exchange on the northwest side of the building will be used for offices and official business.
The site includes two shower trailers, one of which is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The trailers are located on the northwest side of the center, largely hidden from view. A covered walkway has been built to allow residents to reach the trailers from the building. A fence has been erected behind the facility to assure the privacy of Devens residents living on Elm Road.
“The fence was installed at our request and part of the site plan referenced in the permit,” wrote DEC environmental planner Neil Angus in an email to the Press. “The temporary external facilities were located in a way to maximize efficiency and safety for those staying overnight and to minimize any potential negative impacts to nearby residents.” (See the aerial view of the site plan below.)
Last week’s certificate, which will expire June 6, 2023, is explicit in naming MEMA, the Department of Housing and Community Development, and MassDevelopment, the landowner, as responsible for daily operations and for “inspections to ensure all public health and safety requirements are being met.” MEMA is required to maintain a register at the main entrance to the Eisengrein center “containing an accurate number of guests, workers and volunteers on a nightly basis, with access to the ledger available to inspectors and public safety officials upon request.” Though unnamed in the permit, Making Opportunity Count, a Fitchburg social services agency, will coordinate medical and other services at the facility under contract to MEMA.
Though the center had been open only two days, DEC director Peter Lowitt said Wednesday that so far MEMA was complying with the permit. Contrary to a Thursday report by a local public radio station, DEC Director Lowitt said this morning that the site’s showers are located in two trailers connected by a tent to the main building. The Press has requested a site tour and is awaiting permission.
In a memo sent to acting MEMA director Dawn Brantley last week, Lowitt urged the agency to host an open public informational session “once the details for the facility are finalized and there is more information to share with the public.” So far, no date for such a session has been set.
As for the availability of alternative facilities for public gatherings, a MassDevelopment spokesperson wrote that Devens Recreation and Events Coordinator Hillary Andrews would help residents and businesses find space for events while the community center is in use. Any resident or business interested in using community space can contact her at handrews@massdevelopment.com.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to confirm that showers at the Devens emergency assistance intake center are located in trailers, not tents, as reported by other outlets.
Aerial view of site plan. (Courtesy photo)
