MASH Village renews deal

Diana Sahagun

Thursday, May 17, 2001 | 10:34 a.m.

After weeks of tension during which the future of homeless programs in downtown Las Vegas looked grim, MASH Village has renewed its contract with the city for five more years.

But the drama is not over yet, as a June 30 closure date now looms.

According to the original agreement, which expired in December, the shelter had the option to renew the contract for five more years.

But now that the renewal clause has been triggered, the city is no longer required by the contract to provide a yearly $500,000 subsidy to operate the crisis intervention center.

Now that this subsidy has ended, shelter representatives say they may not be able to raise enough money to keep the shelter open. The Rev. Joe Carroll, who heads the shelter, said if the funds are not raised by June 30, the center will be forced to close.

The earlier tension was sparked by a demand from MASH Village that the city give it the land on which the shelter sits. The contract, however, states that MASH Village must make $5 million in capital improvements before the city will turn over the land.

Carroll sparked weeks of negotiations when he said he wanted a new contract, one which he said must give the shelter the land, even though it has only raised less than $2 million in capital improvements.