It was a surprise when St. Susan Center officials announced this week the center won’t be moving from Water Street to the former Jamestown Business College campus.

There was a lot of excitement when the center was part of the announcement that the Conklin family had donated the former JBC campus to be used as a new home for the St. Susan Center and a new shelter for the UCAN City Mission. The part of the property that was to house St. Susan’s will need to find a new use that coexists with a shelter after the announcement Monday that the St. Susan Center will remain on Water Street as part of the upcoming Gateway Lofts rehabilitation of the former Chautauqua Hardware building on Water Street.

We think the center’s board and leadership made the right decision. Finding the money to turn a former college building into a commercial kitchen was always going to be a heavy lift for the non-profit, which needed to fundraise for that project as well as continue its vital mission helping to feed the hungry at the same time. In the end the center’s board decided it was better to stay on Water Street.

As center officials completed architectural studies, pursued site plan approvals and began to receive detailed construction estimates, projected renovation costs increased from early estimates of $1 million to nearly $3 million when accounting for full construction scope and required upgrades to turn a school building into the next home of a soup kitchen.

There is something to be said for the St. Susan Center remaining in its current home. Staying on Water Street is a boost to the Gateway Lofts as that rehabilitation project nears construction, securing a vital service for the project that helps meet the vision of the Gateway Lofts project as a true hub of services that includes low-income housing, access to the St. Susan Center, addiction treatment through the Mental Health Association and access to goods through Community Helping Hands.

Not moving means the St. Susan Center won’t be embarking on what was becoming an ambitious construction project at JBC. One reason the Jamestown Business College property was attractive to St. Susan’s in the first place was the chance to start with a clean slate of a building because the center’s space on Water Street needed updating. Staying put is a less expensive project for the St. Susan Center, but there are still needed capital costs for its space on Water Street that will need the community’s support.

We have no doubt the community – both foundations and community residents – would have supported the St. Susan Center’s move to Jamestown Business College. We also have no doubt the community will support the center as it embarks on a less expensive – but just as vital – project to make its Water Street space fit the St. Susan Center’s needs.