Samaritan House gets former armory

Samaritan House is the winner of the Sonstelie Hall lottery.

For the last few years, local agencies and organizations have eyed the former Sonstelie Hall Army Reserve Center near Peterson School on Second Street West in Kalispell.

Flathead County Agency on Aging hoped to relocate from its cramped facility on Kelly Road to the more spacious Army Reserve building.

Kalispell Public Schools hoped to move its centralized elementary support kitchen there and possibly using some space for additional kindergarten and early childhood classrooms.

Instead, the U.S. General Services Administration assigned the building to the Flathead Valley's only homeless shelter.

"I feel bittersweet," said Chris Krager, Samaritan House's executive director. "I know a lot of people had an interest in the building."

Samaritan House was able to acquire the property because homeless-assistance programs are given priority over other programs, he said.

"My application was given a priority consideration," he said. "There must be a reason that the government put a homeless priority in there."

Samaritan House will use the 12,327-square-foot main building primarily as office space. Krager's office, as well as the accounting and case management offices, will move into the building, which has been empty since 2003.

There won't be any beds at the new site, Krager said, but when the offices move from Samaritan House's current building on Ninth Avenue West, the shelter will be able to serve more people.

In 2007, Krager had to turn away 545 people because Samaritan House was full.

"That's why I applied for the property," he said.

Moving the offices will allow the shelter to accommodate an additional 60 people annually. About 1,500 people stay at Samaritan House each year.

"It doesn't make a huge impact," Krager admitted. "But it does make some positive impact.

"That is 10 people at any point in time that will get help by nature of us having this extra building."

Better still, Samaritan House gets the property for free. Federal law says underutilized, unused, excess or surplus real estate may be made available at no cost to homeless providers.

"The essence of it is with an increased demand for homeless services and increased numbers of homeless people, and the weight of our budget and trying to make ends meet, it feels really, really refreshing to get something for free," Krager said.

Samaritan House will have a 30-year deed, he said. During that time, the shelter must use some part of the property to serve homeless people.

When the 30 years are up, the property belongs to Samaritan House to use as the organization deems best.

The building may need some minor repairs, Krager said, but except for years of accumulated dust, it's ready for new occupants. Samaritan House's existing facility will need some construction, he said. Staff will remain the same.

Krager hasn't yet received the key or the deed. As soon as he has those, he has one year to move in.

"It's going to be a slow process," he said.

The Army Reserve building is Montana's latest government property handled by the General Services Administration, the largest public real estate organization in the country. It also handled an armory-turned-homeless-shelter in Bozeman and the former Air Force base in Lakeside, which now houses a Youth With a Mission base.

For more information, visit www.gsa.gov/r8.

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.