King County opens public buildings as homeless shelters

Published 12:37 pm Saturday, December 26, 2015

SEATTLE — King County plans to triple the number of homeless shelter beds inside two King County buildings in downtown Seattle this week.

The county will open a new 50-bed shelter inside a vacant building at 420 Fourth Avenue on Saturday at 7 p.m.

An existing shelter inside the King County Administration Building will be expanded from 50 beds to 100 spaces on Monday at 7 p.m.

King County Executive Dow Constantine says the new shelter will welcome pets.

The expansion of shelter beds is in support of the county’s declaration of a state of emergency for homelessness in King County.