Mechanical issues delay extension of hours at Carmichael Outreach

It’s a hurdle to try to keep people warm at Regina’s Carmichael Outreach.

The non-profit is struggling due to an issue with its gas meter.

Development co-ordinator Chrysta Garner told 980 CJME that the building didn’t have any heat as of Tuesday.

“Ever since we opened up our warming centre, our system has been overloaded from what we understand,” Garner said.

Garner said the issue first surfaced on Friday, when Carmichael called SaskEnergy. She said there appears to be a residential meter on the building, but it’s not known if it was placed there through retrofits or if it was an already-existing meter.

Carmichael’s operating hours normally are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday to Friday. Last week, the non-profit announced it would be changing the hours of its warming centre to have it open seven days a week from 7:30 p.m. to 7 a.m. until May.

The new hours were set to kick in on Tuesday but have been put off by the mechanical issues.

“When we were only operating Monday to Friday, we had the downtime where (the furnaces were able to catch up) or the load was able to kind of rejuvenate itself,” Garner said.

“But now, we’ve got the front doors open and closed all the time, constant hot water running in the bathrooms and just more people in and out of the building in general, so then the building has no downtime at all anymore. We just can’t keep up.”

Garner said Carmichael had to close after lunch service on Friday to ensure it had enough heat for the evening.

“Right now we’re just trying to keep things going the best we can,” Garner said. “We don’t want to interrupt our services. A lot of people depend on us

“(On Tuesday), we served sandwiches and a salad instead of using our deep fryer so we’re trying to conserve as much as we can until we can get the problem fixed.”

Garner said Carmichael has been in contact with SaskEnergy and is waiting to hear a quote, as well as to find out how long it will take to upgrade the meter. She said it could cost upwards of $10,000.

“It’s not a simple overnight fix from what we understand,” Garner said.

Garner said Carmichael has put space heaters out in the meantime to try to keep people as warm as they can.

Carmichael’s warming centre will operate seven days a week from 11 p.m. until 7 a.m.