Chum facility in Duluth to double capacity with new expansion

DULUTH, Minn. (Northern News Now) - Construction is officially underway at Chum’s shelter in Duluth, as crews begin a major renovation project aimed at expanding services for those in need.

The work follows a big move last month, when dozens of Chum guests relocated to the Damiano Center to make room for the upgrades.

Housing instability continues to be a crisis in Duluth, and Chum is on the frontlines of that issue.

Executive Director John Cole said, “fighting homelessness has been increasing in Duluth steadily over the last 10 years and that means we see more and more people coming into the shelter with all sorts of conditions.”

To confront overcrowding problems head-on, Chum has been working toward an expansion project for the last four years.

“The building was built for 30, and we were sleeping 80 in our dorm rooms and having an average of 125 person per day using the building,” said Cole.

Cole also says the expansion will double their capacity limit, “thousands of people have passed through this building, and it has provided shelter and helped them to be able to land and to build back so that they could get housing in this community.”

Johnson Wilson Constructors put down over $10 million on a bid to do this project.

President of the company Shane Johnson said, “when the plans came out, we tried to bid on it as fast as possible, and once we get the permit in hand which is coming pretty quickly, we’re going to start construction right away.”

For the crews working on the project, the reward is about more than just finishing the building.

“We just want to make sure that they would be taken care of and we’re just excited to hand over the keys again, obviously this is the start and it’s pretty exciting, but we’ve got a lot of work to do going forward,” said Johnson.

Construction is set to finish up in about 12 to 18 months, in the meantime the Damiano center remains open for anyone looking for shelter.

For more information on the expansion project, visit Chum’s website.

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