What’s next? Shelter shutdown raises crucial questions

Acton’s state-run emergency shelter is officially closed.

As new allegations emerge about conditions inside the facility, some residents and local property owners are wondering what lies ahead. 

An executive overseeing the Elm Street property said managers plan to restart hotel operations — but Acton’s health director said they hadn’t reached out as of early this week. 

One man who lodged a complaint alleging ongoing pest problems at Acton’s former Best Western says he’s moved to another state shelter and hopes to exit the system he’s navigated for two years. 

Justice Johnson sees some good news in possible semi-permanent housing in Boston — but he didn’t have a move-in date. 

“After a long, excruciatingly painful, very hard, very difficult two-year journey, we finally got word of something,” he told The Acton Bridge. 

“It still sucks until we get there.”

Recent sanitation problems

The 1960 building operated as a Best Western before the state and its contractor — Making Opportunity Count — converted it to a shelter in 2023 to handle a surge of people seeking help. 

The operation won early praise as volunteers and community organizations lent their support.

Health complaints mounted, though, and the state paused new shelter placements last November after The Bridge started asking questions about a cockroach infestation and repeated septic backups.

The state later lifted the pause but started winding down its hotel network as demand waned.

Johnson said he moved to Acton with his girlfriend and young son after previously living at a hotel shelter in Ayer. They arrived just over six months after complaints had halted Acton placements. 

Records show Johnson reported cockroaches, bedbugs, and “bad smells” to the town Health Department on June 9. A health inspector found evidence of cockroach activity and ordered the property owners to fix the problem, according to town documents. 

The Health Department closed its case on July 25 with the understanding that an inspector would “continue to work with management for pest control.”

In Ayer, pests weren’t much of a problem if his family kept their room clean, Johnson said. By contrast, he said, his family sometimes lost sleep in the Acton shelter for fear of the bugs. 

Other current and former residents, who asked to remain anonymous because they feared retaliation, shared similar stories.

Tara Smith, press secretary for the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, declined to comment on Johnson’s complaint but confirmed the shelter closed on July 31. Executives at MOC and Jamsan Hotel Management, which manages the property, did not respond to Bridge inquiries. 

Jamsan Vice President Ashok Patel previously said staff addressed problems immediately and that the company would continue working with an outside firm to manage any pest issues. 

MOC Vice President of Programs Colby O’Brien said there were treatment plans in place and that the organization was coordinating with the property owners to address roach sightings and plumbing problems. 

As the shutdown approached, O’Brien highlighted support for residents and said anyone remaining at the Acton site at the end of July would be moved to another shelter “to ensure there is no disruption in services.”

Hope for housing

Johnson said he works as a moulder but is on leave due to an injury. He said his son was born in July 2023; his family entered the shelter system that September. 

In an early-July text message, he said pest problems had improved “a little bit,” but the family wasn’t spending much time in their room, opting instead to drive around or sit in a park. 

Johnson said the family relocated to a shelter in Northborough in recent weeks and expects to move into an apartment in Boston’s Brighton neighborhood soon. 

He said they’re excited to trade their one-room lodging for a larger space, but the open-ended wait has been “discouraging.”  

Patel said in June that the property’s owners planned to start welcoming hotel guests in Acton once the shelter closed. Once a Best Western, the property is now branded as the Inn at Historic Acton. The site might not stay a hotel forever, Patel said, adding that the owners were also exploring redevelopment.

Patel said he thinks lodgers will return. Mark Pesce — who operates a nearby Dunkin’ location with his wife, Megan — said he’s not so sure. 

“I think they’re going to struggle to get business back in there unless they invest,” he said, citing recent reporting about the property. “There’s some significant money that needs to get put back into that property before it thrives.” 

Visible remnants 

The Bridge visited the Elm Street shelter shortly before it closed. Workers there declined to answer questions.

In the lobby, a sign from the site’s hotel days advertised check-in and check-out times. A placard showed a Best Western customer service number. 

Outside, a few pieces of furniture spilled from a ground-floor room. A canvas canopy, which provided shade for a children’s play area, trailed on the ground. A rainbow of names and chalk drawings marked a nearby wall, the colors blurred by rain. A rack once surrounded by bicycles and tricycles stood mostly empty.

The Select Board approved a new innholder license for the hotel late last year. Patel said Jamsan would work with the town to reopen a pool that’s gone unused since August 2022. 

As of Tuesday, Public Health Director Melanie Dineen said hotel representatives hadn’t contacted her office. “I haven’t heard a thing,” Dineen said. She said health officials would also want to reevaluate the hotel’s food permit.

Dineen previously said Jamsan was hard to contact, and the voicemail box of the Lexington-based company was full when The Bridge called Tuesday morning. 

Near the end of his latest interview with The Bridge, Johnson reflected on his experience and urged anyone in similar circumstances to “fight for your family.” 

Ultimately, he said, life in shelters has been bleak. 

“You’re just kind of f—ed,” he said. “You can’t do anything about nothing. You’re just stuck. And you will be crying. You’ll want to die — a lot. I was there.”