The floor plans for the upcoming Austin/Travis County Sobriety Center were approved for construction Wednesday night. The Austin/Travis County Sobriety Center Local Government Corporation unanimously approved the plans for the center, which will be constructed on the first two floors of the old three-floor Travis County Medical Examiner’s Office at 1213 Sabine St. in downtown Austin. Blueprints for the first floor of the new Austin/Travis County Sobriety Center.[/caption] The plans were first introduced March 8, but the local government corporation was not legally able to adopt the plans because outdated plans were presented to the group. Much of the March 8 discussion was dominated by whether the center would provide an outdoor smoking area, with some of the members suggesting an outdoor smoking area could be a positive, as cigarettes are often used as a bargaining tool in helping convince some intoxicated people to calm down. Other members disagreed, insisting the center was meant as a holding place for intoxicated people to sober up and should not offer any sort of recreation. Blueprints for the second floor of the new Travis County Sobriety Center.[/caption]

HOST and the Innovation Team make their pitch to take over the third floor

While construction plans were approved for the first two floors of the new Sobriety Center, the third floor is up for grabs. On Wednesday, the Homeless Outreach Street Team–HOST– and the city of Austin’s Innovation Team made their pitch for why they would make good neighbors. The Austin/Travis County Sobriety Center Local Government Corporation does not get final say on who occupies the third floor, but as the tenants of the first two floors, its positive recommendation hold significant clout in the decision. HOST, started as a pilot in June 2016, works to proactively meet the needs of people living on the streets in Austin before they reach a state of crisis. The team is made up of police officers, paramedics, social workers and behavioral health specialists. While it has yet to be officially assembled, the city's Innovation Team was created out of a grant from Bloomberg for $500,000 over three years to fund a collaborative and innovative solution to the city’s homeless epidemic. While the organizations explained several examples of crossover between their missions and the mission of the Sobriety Center, members of the Austin/Travis County Sobriety Center Local Government Corporation showed hesitation when it came time to vote. The motion was eventually withdrawn after some members expressed a desire to learn more about HOST and the Innovation Team before making a final decision.