Old school building may help with our homeless population.

First it was declaring a housing state of emergency last fall, then it was converting unused buildings into temporary homeless shelters.

Now, the city of Portland has taken its creative approach to chipping away at Portland’s homeless problem to a new place, this time to Portland Public Schools.

According to Willamette Week, Portland Mayor Charlie Hales is negotiating a deal with PPS Superintendent Carole Smith to turn a school district owned building in Southeast Portland into a homeless shelter. In exchange, the city would continue to provide funding for “school security and student bus passes.”

The building under consideration is a storage building on the campus of the former Washington High School at 1300 Southeast Stark Street. The latter facility underwent an extensive renovation and is now home to the music venue Revolution Hall, as well as business tenants such as New Seasons and Copious Creative.

Check out the whole article here at the Portland Business Journal website.