We’re learning more details about the city’s plan to build two Sprung Structures to house asylum seekers and refugees, including what exactly the structures are, and how they will be used.
One will be built at 1645 Woodroffe Ave., near the Nepean Sportsplex. If a second is needed, that has been designated for 40 Hearst Way in Kanata. It has sparked plenty of pushback from local residents.
The city says it is the best available option to house asylum seekers in a quick and efficient manner.
CTV News Ottawa wanted to know what these structures are all about, how they are built, and how they work.
How do they work?
Kale Brown, the city’s acting director of housing, says that each building will sleep 150 single adults, and there will be no children or families housed in the structures.
Called “Newcomer Reception Centres,” inside there will be rooms and beds, with a place to store basic belongings. He also says there are plans for a commercial kitchen, computer rooms and common rooms, as well as plans for on-site services – which include things like translation services, health care assessments, and asylum claimant assistance.
“The focus is really to get people everything they need,” he said. “From a settlement process, to be able to get a job, to then subsequently be able to find housing. As quickly as possible moving people through the support services into independent living.”
How are they built?
Sprung Structures are actually named after the Sprung family, who have run the company for five generations in Canada, explains Jim Avery, the companies vice president. While the company has more than 1,000 structures built around the world for various uses, he says there are no exact replicas of how the structures will look inside, as every structure is built to support different needs.
Avery says the structure is expected to be about 30,000 square feet, and says they aren’t tents. He says they are built with fiberglass insulation and an aluminum architectural membrane, which is engineered in Canada.
He says it will be constructed for Ottawa’s cold winters and hot summers.
“The real key is the climate control,” he added. “The same heating and cooling as you’d have in any normal building you can put inside a Sprung, whereas you can’t really do that in the tent.”
The city says asylum seekers will be housed for 90 days and anticipates between 600 and 1,200 people could cycle through in a year.
The city says there are 600 asylum seekers being housed in shelters, according to city numbers.
Avery says the Sprung Structures were chosen because it can go up quickly and were found to cost less than other options. It can also be repurposed once it’s no longer needed.
“We need to do something quick that’s more dignified and get people into spaces that are purpose built,” he says.