Columbia neighbors spooked by rumors of new homeless shelter. What Oliver Gospel says
The Oliver Gospel Mission is hearing a lot about a so-called secret plan to move into Arsenal Hill.
Travis McNeal, the executive director of the homeless shelter on Taylor Street, said he’s gotten questions about an anonymous flyer going around Columbia’s Arsenal Hill neighborhood alleging the city of Columbia is preparing to purchase the Flooring by Cogdill building at the corner of Huger and Laurel streets as Oliver Gospel’s new home.
“The City is using this time to push it through, so they do not have to hold a public hearing during the (coronavirus) pandemic,” a copy of the flyer shared with The State reads. The document encourages residents to contact members of city council.
The truth, McNeal said, is much less sinister, and much further from being a reality.
The 130-year-old ministry has had talks with the building’s owner and city officials about its desire to move into a larger facility. But the organization ultimately decided the Huger Street site would not be the best location for a new shelter, partly because neighbors would not be comfortable with it.
“The Cogdill property is a good property for us,” McNeal said, “but if it doesn’t build community, build unity, do what’s best for the whole community, then we all lose.”
As Oliver Gospel looks to make a move, Cogdill remains an option, “but it’s way down the list,” McNeal said.
Likewise, property owner Bill Cogdill said he’s had conversations with the ministry about using the building, but “only to look at what the feasibility of it was,” and Cogdill said he hasn’t spoken with anyone with the city about the property at all.
“I don’t want my employees to think we’re about to shut down, and they go get new jobs, and then nothing ever comes of it,” Cogdill said.
While McNeal says he spoke to Ed McDowell, the area’s city councilman, about plans to move, he doesn’t expect the city to buy a building for him.
“I mean, I think that would be awesome,” McNeal said, “but it’s not going to happen.”
Oliver Gospel’s downtown facility is cramped for what the ministry would like to do, McNeal said, and he feels the property could be put to other uses in a revitalizing downtown. Before the mission could move elsewhere though, a buyer for the Taylor Street property would need to be found, McNeal said.
“We’re not going to move tomorrow, or next year, or maybe the next year,” he said.
For his part, Cogdill said the idea of converting his Huger Street building does appeal to him. He chairs the board of the Providence Home shelter on North Main, and was active in prison ministry for years.
“That’s where my heart is,” he said. “I’d want to do something for them, I just don’t know what I can do right now.”
But Cogdill adds that for his neighbors, “it probably would not be a great thing for real estate prices,” and McNeal said his mission isn’t helped if it inflames relations with the community.
“I’d really love to meet” whoever is responsible for the anonymous flyer, he said. “I’d have some things to tell them... You really didn’t represent your friends very well in your neighborhood.”
This story was originally published May 9, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
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