Following a series of cold fronts, including one which brought historic lows to the Treasure Coast, St. Lucie County and Port St. Lucie Officials are weighing bringing a brand new cold shelter to Port St. Lucie.
As of writing, there is only one cold shelter for the entirety of St. Lucie County at Percy Peak Gym in Fort Pierce. Some residents, including one woman at a recent Port St. Lucie City Council meeting on Jan. 12, voiced concern on the lack of a shelter for Port St. Lucie.
"Is there a reason why we don't have a cold weather shelter here in Port St. Lucie?" she asked. "They have to bus people from Port St. Lucie up to Fort Pierce."
"I mean, when we have nearly 250,000 residents, and they only have 56,000, residents, you're going to inundate Fort Pierce," she continued.
Since then, the county and the city have been in talks to establish a new cold weather shelter in Port St. Lucie.
"St. Lucie County and the City of Port St. Lucie are looking at options that could supplement the county’s existing cold-weather shelter. At this time, we are working together on logistical details to ensure we are best able to meet the needs of the community," said St. Lucie County Communications Director Erick Gill.
An item was placed on the Feb. 3 St. Lucie County Commission meeting to approve an interlocal agreement between the city and county to establish a Port St. Lucie cold shelter at Minksy Gym, but the item was pulled prior to the meeting.
An additional cold front is already underway on the Treasure Coast, and in the meantime, county officials said Percy Peak will remain open to all county residents.
"For now, the current cold-weather shelter is located at Percy Peak Gym in Fort Pierce. It will open Friday, Feb. 6 at 6 p.m. and close at 8 a.m. Saturday," said Gill.
Transportation to the shelter is provided at the following locations starting from Feb. 5 from 6 p.m. to approximately 8 p.m.:
- Port St. Lucie Intermodal Station, 395 SE Deacon Ave. in Port St. Lucie
- Fort Pierce Intermodal Facility, 725 Avenue D, Fort Pierce
- Prima Vista Crossing Bus Stop on Prima Vista, east of U.S. 1
- Pinewood Park, 820 Sunrise Blvd. in Fort Pierce
- Kilmer Branch Library, 101 Melody Lane in Fort Pierce
- Publix Plaza at Taylor Creek, 1851 North U.S. 1 in Fort Pierce
- Percy Peek Gym, 2902 Ave. D in Fort Pierce