Efforts by the Salvation Army to build a new center to house the homeless in East Lawrence will have another year to work on the $3.5 million project.

City commissioners on Tuesday unanimously approved a one-year extension of the project’s site plan, which was set to expire next week.

Rich Forney, administrator of the Lawrence operations for the Salvation Army, said the extension would give the organization more time to raise funds and receive necessary approvals from the Salvation Army’s national headquarters.

“There is a lot of red tape that we go through on every decision in our organization,” Forney said.

But Forney said he was confident the project, which would be located west of Haskell Avenue between Lynn and Homewood streets, would become reality. Forney said he expected the Salvation Army to launch the public version of its $3.5 million capital campaign next month.

“We’re confident that this county will do its part to support the facility,” Forney said. “When we’re able to start building, we’ll have the money to build.”

The new center would replace the Salvation Army’s site at 946 N.H. The new center would include a “family-friendly” shelter with sleeping quarters for 39 men, 12 women and four dormitories for homeless families with children. The center also would include nonshelter services such as a gymnasium, chapel, food bank area and office space for social service workers.

Residents who live near the proposed site stopped short of opposing the extension request Tuesday night, but they unsuccessfully lobbied commissioners to place additional restrictions on the development.

Loralee Stevens, president of the Brook Creek Neighborhood Assn., said the neighborhood wanted assurances that the project wouldn’t become an open shelter or a traditional soup kitchen, and that a plan would be in place to provide transportation for transients to take them from the neighborhood to other areas of town where services for the homeless are provided.

6News video: Salvation Army given extention for facility

“Basically we just want them (the Salvation Army) to put in writing what they verbally have promised,” Stevens said.

Dick Zinn, a director on the Salvation Army’s board, said they weren’t in a position to provide written assurances to the neighborhood but said that they wanted to work with the neighborhood.

Forney said the new facility would be different than the current facility. It only will serve meals to people who are residents of the shelter, which is a different from the policy used today. Forney also said the shelter only would house individuals who have a job or can show that they are actively seeking a job and have enrolled in a Salvation Army training program.

City commissioners unanimously approved the request, agreeing with a staff recommendation that site plans for large projects often had received a one-year site plan extension. Neighbors had asked for the extension to be limited to six months.

City seeks plan for one pesticide-free park

The city’s Parks and Recreation Department ought to designate one of the city’s signature parks as a pesticide-free location, city commissioners agreed Tuesday night.

City commissioners did not endorse a plan to convert all the city’s parks to pesticide-free zones by 2009, citing issues with cost and concerns about protecting the city’s investment in landscaping. The pesticide-free park idea emerged after a citizens group expressed concerns about the health effects that could be caused by pesticide exposure.

Commissioners directed parks and recreation leaders to come up with a plan to convert one of the city’s more visible parks into a completely pesticide- and herbicide-free area. Commissioners did not choose a specific park.

Memorial Park Cemetery fate to be discussed

City commissioners will discuss whether the city should consider buying Memorial Park Cemetery, a privately owned facility that has been the subject of frequent complaints.

Commissioners agreed to put the discussion item on their agenda for a late June meeting, although an exact date wasn’t set. Mayor Boog Highberger said the commission would discuss how the city would respond if the state finds the cemetery is out of compliance with state cemetery law and orders the city to take over its care. But Highberger also said the city would discuss whether the city should talk to the owners about buying the cemetery at 1517 E. 15th St.

“But my preference would be to find a way to have it adequately maintained without doing that,” Highberger said.