Planners with the Park City Peace House are aiming to have their new building done by late spring or early summer. And they say that the new facility, which welcomes women and families suffering domestic abuse, offers security and safety in its design.
The project planner for Peace House, Sharon Mardula, had an update on the new building of 43,000 square feet, with two stories.
“We’re all enclosed.,” Mardula explained. “We’re doing painting right now and getting ready to lay the flooring, cabinets are in. It’s very exciting to see what we’ve worked on for so many years come to fruition.” She also noted that the weather has caused some delays. “It’s been hard. We had hoped to have the asphalt in place. Typically, there’s a January thaw that would have allowed us to pour and we didn’t get that this year. It’s great for the skiers but not so great for our construction people.”
The project has had its problems, including one caused by events overseas.
“We just had a huge change order from our flooring manufacture because of the tariffs with China,” Mardula said. “So, we’ve had to deal with that. That’s over and above what our construction budget anticipated.”
The new Peace House is not like the old quasi-secret facility. Its location is known. So, it has a number of security features.
“The residences are all on the 2nd floor,” Mardula continued. “When you approach the building there will be a lockout vestibule that will be open during normal business hours. Then you will have to be buzzed in to enter the clinical area and the administrative offices. Those too will be separated so that when you come into the lobby you won’t be able to get into the clinical area unless you are escorted in or you have a reason to be there.”
In addition, the reception area is protected by bullet-proof glass. The upstairs, she said, will serve two functions.
“The upstairs area is divided into two sections,” Mardula explained. “There’s one for the emergency shelter and one for transitional housing. This is a new endeavor for Peace House. The idea that a victim can rebuild their life in 60 days, which is our maximum stay right now, is kind of optimistic. So we’ve built in transitional housing, which is for up to two years, to allow a family to establish a new life and move on. That’s going to also incorporate sheltered, closed in parking. That will allow a resident to be able to get a job in the community and then transition out into independence.”
Meanwhile, the Peace House’s Marketing and Development Director, Sally Tauber, reports they’ve had a dramatic increase in calls to their 24-hour Help Line. The number jumped from 469 in 2017 to 739 last year.
Tauber said she thinks it’s partly the result of the MeToo movement, and also their outreach to school children.
“We know that statistically that this type of outreach and this type of education makes a huge impact but remember that we’re meeting with children that are five years old, six years old all the way up to 17 or 18,” Tauber said. “That takes a while before it spins into a change in family abuse. We very much know that the children in the schools have approached their mothers and said I learned about this and there is help and you can call this number mom. We have had someone enter into the shelter under that situation.”
