Danielle Cossey, 509.625.6255
Friday, October 12, 2018 at 4:12 p.m.
Spokane City Council Member Kate Burke is hosting a meeting for the people displaced by the closure of The Academy senior living facility. The meeting will be held on Monday, October 15 at 10 a.m. in the Main Dining Hall of The Academy building for any residents who wish to come. There will be an open discussion about what challenges they are facing finding housing and what could have helped make the transition easier.
“Unfortunately what we are seeing here—a developer coming in and displacing a group of people for higher end housing—is going to start happening more and more in Spokane because of our growth rate,” says Council Member Burke. “I believe it is imperative to work with the tenants early to see how the City should be helping them and what can be done to preserve adequate housing for Spokane residents. I want to hear from the people who recently lost their homes.”
On Tuesday, September 25 the residents of The Academy, an independent and assisted living facility, were told they had until Saturday, November 17 to vacate. The Seattle-based company, Merrill Gardens sold the building to a Company called Stellar Living that is based in Utah. Currently the building has 90 units and a 62 year age minimum. Many of the residents are in bad health so moving is not an easy thing. The meeting is happening exactly one month before the last day to vacate the building. The sale of this building means that a lot of people have lost their homes and Councilwoman Burke wants to hear directly from those affected.
