The federal government will formally announce Friday the closure of the controversial downtown Hamilton halfway house.

Hamilton-area MP David Sweet will make the announcement at 1 p.m. about the York Boulevard halfway house, which the city has fought to get closed since one of its residents stabbed a shopkeeper a decade ago.

Government officials already announced in April — much to the surprise of city council — that the Hamilton Community Correctional Centre (HCCC) would close, and would not reopen elsewhere in Hamilton. The 24-bed halfway house shares space with the Salvation Army at 94 York Blvd., and its lease expires at the end of the year. It will close and its current residents will be re-located at facilities around Ontario.

Local politicians have urged the government to move the halfway house since the 2004 near-fatal stabbing, when a resident crossed the street to Jackson Square and stabbed a woman.

There have also been instances of residents with violent records walking away from the halfway house.

Friday’s announcement is “a good news story,” said Mayor Fred Eisenberger.

The closure is “in concert with what we want our downtown to be.”

Former mayor Bob Bratina, who was involved with the effort to see it closed, likened the halfway house to Randle Reef — a project the city has waited for years to see complete.

“We’re growing and rejuvenating a downtown, and one of the issues is that there’s a halfway house with people of various levels of concern housed there,” he said.

Hamilton Police Service filed 701 reports from 94 York Blvd. from December 2005 to October 2013, 115 of which were related to the halfway house. The rest of the three-storey building houses a 97-room dorm and 21-bed emergency shelter for homeless and transient men.

The calls included drug usage, liquor violations and trespassing. Parole revocation warrants accounted for 112 calls.

Coun. Jason Farr, who represents Ward 2, said he'll be on hand for the announcement.

"It’s not the right place for a halfway house — the centre of a city, particularly a downtown core," he said .

Sweet will make the announcement at 55 Bay St. N.