Waukesha's Hebron House hopes to build new shelter

April 12, 2010
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By Laurel Walker of the Journal Sentinel

April 12, 2010 0

Waukesha - Hebron House of Hospitality would replace its downtown emergency shelter with a new two-story building under plans scheduled to go before the Plan Commission.

Bernie Juno, executive director of Hebron House, said the board of directors originally considered remodeling its shelter - once a single-family home and then a business before its conversion to an emergency shelter 27 years ago. But because of the amount of patchwork renovations and the age of the structure, the board has decided to build new on the old foundation.

The Plan Commission is scheduled to consider a conditional use permit, site plan and architectural approval at its 6:30 p.m. meeting Wednesday at City Hall.

Hebron House houses about 35 people - families and women who need emergency shelter. Juno said the existing house has two big fireplaces that obstruct efficient space use and traffic flow. Plans call for one extra bedroom - six instead of five - with a dorm room for women to be larger. The new building would have four bathrooms instead of 2 1/2 now. It would house up to about 40 people, Juno said.

"We're full all the time," Juno said. "We probably have the longest waiting list (about 75 people) we've ever had in our history."

City planner Doug Koehler said that because the shelter is on an older city lot, one platted before 1950, there is leeway in what otherwise would be more restrictive setback requirements on new buildings. The building would occupy the same footprint but have about 2,623 square feet, slightly more usable space than the existing shelter.

The Hebron House Foundation is seeking to pay for the house with donations and grants. The shelter board has applied for $75,000 in federal funds administered through the state and county. It already has $66,000 in the bank and has commitments of $100,000 more, depending on Plan Commission action, Juno said.

Meanwhile, the agency's plans to build a 10-unit federally subsidized apartment building serving people with physical, mental or other disabilities at 620 Summit Ave. is awaiting state review for qualification as a community based residential facility. The $1.3 million project would require a zoning change because the site is zoned for no more than four apartments.

As proposed, apartments would be on the upper level - including one for an on-site manager - and would provide community space, a reception area, lounge and an exercise and therapy room on the lower level.

About Laurel Walker
Laurel Walker covered local, school and county government for 20 years -- the last half of that at the Milwaukee Journal and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel -- before she was named Waukesha County columnist in 1997. Today she writes about the people, places and events around metropolitan Milwaukee with a broad suburban focus. She was the youngest of nine children raised on a central Wisconsin farm before leaving the nest for journalism studies at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and a masters degree at the University of Oregon. She has spent the last half of her life in Waukesha County, where she and her husband raised two sons. Though she has a fondness for life in Waukesha, she eagerly partakes in the culture of the big city to the east and the recreation of the forests to the west. With sons in the arts, she has a special fondness for symphonic music concerts and art museums. She finds peace in a good book at a Northwoods getaway weekend, adventure in family visits to the east and west coasts, and satisfaction in a column well-written that reaches readers.
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