Lakewood residents are concerned over the city’s plan to use a vacant school to provide services for the homeless and poor.

The Lakewood City Council unanimously approved the city’s $4 million purchase of the 17-acre property, where the shell of Emory Elementary School remains.

While the official usage of the property has not been determined, Travis Parker, chief of sustainability and community development, told the council Monday evening that the lot is planned to be divided into two parcels.

The 7-acre eastern parcel would be retained by the city and contains an open field. The 10-acre western parcel contains the school building and parking lot and will be “utilized to support families and empower individuals,” Parker said.

“There has not been an identified user of this building. There is discussion of entering into negotiations with associations like The Action Center,” Parker said.

The Action Center is a nonprofit that works to provide services, free food and clothing to those in need. The nonprofit already has a location in Lakewood near Colfax Avenue on West 14th Avenue.

If sold or leased to The Action Center, the nonprofit would move from its West 14th Avenue location to the former Emory Elementary, which would “support the growth of our services, increase our capacity and open new avenues to enhance our impact,” Laurie Walowitz, chief impact officer for The Action Center, told The Denver Gazette.

“Our goal is to bring essential services together under one roof,” she said. “We are exploring a wide range of offerings, including health and behavioral health care, enrichment activities for children and seniors, summer programs, workforce development, and educational classes — all in addition to our existing free food and clothing market, coaching, and resource navigation services.”

After approval, the city would be able to enter negotiations with potential buyers or lessees of the school for a year before closing on the land.

Ultimately, the council will have to approve the use of both sides of the property and the former school building.

The idea of placing a nonprofit like The Action Center at the former school has raised the ire of Lakewood residents.

“I have a baby and I walk on that track every single day. Please don’t make me fear my safety,” Caroline Pardoe, a resident near the school, told the council Monday.

Countless residents shared their concerns about the location potentially becoming an area where homeless people reside due to the nearby services.

While both Parker and the council assured the public that the location would not become a homeless shelter, residents still raised concerns over the congregating of homeless people in the area.

The city’s point-in-time count in 2024 — an annual survey conducted nationwide to provide a single night’s snapshot of homelessness in America — found 330 homeless people in the city on one evening.

The 330 made up nearly 36% of the 925 identified in the entirety of Jefferson County that day.

“Where do the users of a future Action Center spend the night?” Merlin Bender asked the council. “I can kind of tell you where I think they’re going to end up.”

Walowitz told The Denver Gazette that the plan is to create an inclusive location, not just one for homeless needs.

“While we plan to continue many of our current programs, we are also committed to engaging with the surrounding community to better understand its needs and to co-create programs that reflect and respond to those priorities,” she said.

Some residents said that the area should not be used to provide services due to the lack of nearby public transportation.

“It has to be accessible and make sense. Pulling it from the light rail or where housing opportunities are doesn’t make sense. It is pulling a problem,” Isable Smith, a social worker in Lakewood, said. “I do believe people deserve equal opportunities, but I believe this is going to make it harder for them. This is not affordable housing for individuals. This is making them find transportation to a place where they’re not going to live.”

“I’ve supported the Action Center,” Shawn Hegarty said. “My concern is accessibility, transportation and safety for the area. It is not a good area from the general services standpoint.”

Hegarty added that there has been a “significant” amount of crime near the current Action Center location on 14th Avenue.

“It is not safe to be at the light rail center,” he added. “Wadsworth has gotten ridiculous.”

The Action Center’s current location is just a few blocks from the Wadsworth Station light rail and the busy West Colfax bus route.

RecoveryWorks, which proivides emergency shelter, bridge housing and recovery programs, is also located in the same area on West Colfax.

The Wadsworth light rail station would be the closest station to the Emory Elementary School lot, but it’s around 3 miles away.

“While we are still evaluating this location as a potential new home for The Action Center, we recognize that the nearest light rail station is approximately 3 miles away,” Walowitz said, adding that multiple bus routes connect to Emory Elementary.

“While misinformation continues to be circulated about this site, under no circumstance will this site be considered for a navigation center serving those without housing,” a spokesperson with the city told The Denver Gazette Tuesday. “It is false information to state that residents who are homeless will be housed on this property or that it will become a navigation center for those who are homeless.”

While nothing is set in stone, and a plethora of public meetings will be held before a final decision is made on the property, city council members assured the public that the addition of family services to the area would be potentially beneficial to the city.

“It’s a vacant building. That’s the sort of place that’s actually going to attract squatters,” City Councilmember Roger Low said. “The vision is not that unhoused individuals are going to live there. It’s not going to act as a shelter.”

“The Action Center is a really important institution in Lakewood,” Low continued. “If we can’t figure out a location where they can continue to be in Lakewood, they’re going to be displaced. If that happens, you know what’s going to happen? Way more homelessness. What The Action Center does is prevents homelessness.”

“We should be looking at lifting other families up now more than ever,” City Councilmember Paula Nystrom said. “We need to stop othering people and making assumptions… We’re not talking about people that want to be out on the street and want to be causing problems and committing crimes. These are people looking for services to help with their children.”

The school — at 1275 S Teller St. in south Lakewood — officially closed on July 1, 2023. It was one of 16 schools in Jeffco Public Schools closed following low attendance rates.

Along with the sale of the Emory Elementary School property, the council also approved the $596,720 sale of 2 acres at the former site of New Classical Academy at Vivian — another elementary school shut down in 2023 in northern Lakewood.

Residents in the area fought to keep the land as a public park in prior meetings after the school’s closure. The city plans to do just that.

Seven other acres of the property will be sold to developers for residential lots, with the developer dedicating an acre of land to the community park purchased by Lakewood.

The school itself was sold by Jeffco Public Schools to a developer for single-family homes.