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As the revitalization of Over-the-Rhine (OTR) continues, there is controversy over plans to relocate one of the neighborhood’s services for the homeless.

The City Gospel Mission — an organization responsible for providing homeless people with services to aid the transition out of homelessness — is planning to move from its current location at 1419 Elm St. in OTR a mile west to 1801-05 Dalton Ave. in Queensgate.

The proposed 50,000-square-foot center would double the amount of people served, allow for all-day services and programs currently not available and allow for increased volunteer parking while maintaining a central location, said Jason Williams, spokesman for City Gospel Mission.

But relocating City Gospel Mission to Queensgate — an industrial and manufacturing sector located several miles west of OTR — has sparked some controversy among Queensgate business owners.

“The Queensgate businesses don’t believe that it is in the best interests of the homeless people to be put in an industrial park,” said attorney Peter Koenig, a partner with Buechner Haffer Meyers & Koenig Co., who is representing several Queensgate businesses in a lawsuit filed in June 2011 opposing the relocation.

Aiding the plaintiffs’ case are studies by University of Cincinnati associate professors Menelaos Triantafillou of the College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning, and Colleen McTague, an assistant professor of geography who specializes in urban
political geography.

Being an industrial district leaves Queensgate devoid of many of the amenities needed to serve the homeless, including supermarkets, medical treatment facilities, recreational space and other resources, according to Triantafillou’s study.

Queensgate is made up of large industrial blocks that are much larger than the city blocks in OTR, making it non-friendly for pedestrians, McTague said in her study.

This, combined with a high volume of trucking traffic, a lack of sidewalks and proper night-time lighting, would keep many homeless people from following the City Gospel Mission to Queensgate, according to the study.

But those in favor of the new location say otherwise.

“We actually surveyed the people that we serve — the homeless people and the people that come in for meals — and over 75 percent of them said they would go where the mission goes,” Williams said.

The urge to relocate started in 2003 after it became apparent that the current building couldn’t fulfill all the necessary services.

It wasn’t until late 2009 that the Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation (3CDC) — a nonprofit group responsible for restoring OTR and developments in downtown Cincinnati — joined City Gospel Mission in the effort to relocate.

More controversy has come about because of the proximity of City Mission Gospel to Washington Park, which is currently under a $48 million restoration and expansion spearheaded by 3CDC.

Both City Gospel Mission and 3CDC representatives said that the restoration of Washington Park has nothing to do with relocating to Queensgate.

“Over-the-Rhine, because of its stock of older buildings, smaller spaces and vertical spaces, doesn’t meet the needs of the City Gospel Mission,” said Anastasia Mileham, vice president of communications for 3CDC. “There just aren’t sites available in Over-the-Rhine that meet their needs.”

The lawsuit filed by Queensgate business owners is currently pending in front of Judge Pat DeWine.