The Ottawa City Council has approved a deal to sell the homeless shelter building to Illinois Valley PADS. PADS has been operating there north of the library and scouting museum for about 20 years. It needs a bigger place.
The deal is to tear down the current building, sell the cleared lot to PADS, and allow a bigger building to go there. PADS is paying $100 for it.
That arrangement was worked out after the City Council rejected a request to build a new shelter on E. McKinley Rd. earlier this year. Many south side residents objected to the location.