Growing downtown Nanaimo encampment evicted, fence erected around Italian Fountain

A fence was erected around the fountain to prevent further overnight stays.

A fence is now erected around a major downtown Nanaimo landmark to prevent people camping. (Spencer Sterritt/NanaimoNewsNOW)

The City of Nanaimo’s community safety manager Dave LaBerge said clearly moving the homeless away from one public space to be dispersed elsewhere doesn’t address the problem, however he emphasized something had to be done.

He said the encampment became more entrenched with a permanent around-the-clock presence with as many as 40 people on site, rending the park unusable. LaBerge said business owners in the area complained about intimidation to their staff and customers.

“Those sentiments were echoed by our gardening and maintenance staff from the parks department who were saying they were being harassed and intimidated when they were trying to do work in the area.”

LaBerge acknowledged having a gate block off a downtown park is not ideal, but said order needed to be restored.

“We’re hopeful that in a couple weeks that we can remove the fencing, but we’ll have to continue to evaluate,” LaBerge said.

The City also cordoned off the two large picnic shelters located in Bowen Park late last year.

While people at the encampment are blamed for causing social disorder, attacks against those living at the Italian Fountain had increased recently.

A City employee who attended the dismantling of the camp said members of the homeless community at Italian Square Park had been pepper sprayed and eggs tossed at them recently, particularly during overnight hours.

It’s believed many who were living around the Italian Fountain were previous residents of the Wesley St. encampment.

Wesley St. was bulldozed and upwards of 60 people were forcibly removed after a propane tank fire in a tent in early December, 2020.

After the high-profile incident, many Wesley St. residents were displaced into Nanaimo’s bushes since shelter spaces were full.

Nanaimo’s cold weather shelter is set to close at the end of March, with two warming centres closing in mid-May. The warming centres were originally to close at the end of March as well.

A navigation centre offering up to 60 beds for those living rough and hard-to-house was supposed to be open by the spring of 2021.

A recent City of Nanaimo report showed no further progress was made on the project and there’s no timeline in place for a site to be selected for the navigation centre.

It’s believed the people evicted from the Italian Fountain will be dispersed back into the community.

The City cordoned off the two large picnic shelters located in Bowen Park late last year.

Members of the homeless community in Nanaimo are legally allowed to establish temporary shelters in most parks between 7 p.m. and 9 a.m.

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by NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

Growing downtown Nanaimo encampment evicted, fence erected around Italian Fountain

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