A cadre of local officials cut the ribbon in front of the New San Marco Apartment building in Duluth at 2:30 p.m. today.
The event, which drew a crowd of 100 people, seemed more like a 45-minute pep rally.
"I see the golden rule in action," Gary Olson, executive director of the Center for Alcohol and Drug Treatment, shouted to the enthusiastic crowd, which spilled onto Third Street.
The building, which houses chronic alcoholics and others who are homeless, is evidence that Duluth residents care about people who just need a safe place to stay, Olson said. That way they can focus on pulling their lives back together, he said, adding that the place is so nice he'd be proud to call one of the apartments at 230 W. Third St. home.
When it was being approved, the new building drew considerable controversy. Many neighbors worried crime in the area would spike.
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But speakers said now that the new building is up and open, people's worries about the new building bringing more crime to the vicinity will be proven unwarranted.
Duluth police said anecdotal evidence over the past couple months since the tenants moved in shows that calls have slipped slightly, because some people who routinely caused problems are now housed in the building.
"This is one of the best projects I've ever seen," said Duluth Mayor Herb Bergson, a longtime proponent of the building.
The supportive housing center -- the first of its kind in Duluth -- is a 70-unit, five-story, L-shaped building that cost $9.2 million. It provides the homeless and chronic alcoholics with a safe place to remain indefinitely, whether or not they seek treatment or continue to drink.
While illegal drug use isn't allowed, residents are allowed to drink alcohol in their rooms, which was another reason the proposal was so controversial.
Most places only take alcoholics and the homeless if they agree to enter and remain in treatment programs.
The New San Marco provides programs to help residents become independent, if they choose to. And getting everyone into treatment remains the goal for case workers stationed in the building.
The efficiency apartments for the homeless rent for $383 a month. The rooms for alcoholics will cost $1,148 a month, because it's more like a group home setting.
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Tenants pay a portion of the tab for the apartments on a sliding scale, based on income, with the state and federal governments picking up whatever a tenant can't.
