A new centre for underprivileged youth set to open in Chinatown is facing growing opposition from local business owners.

The Yonge Street Mission has purchased a building at 365 Spadina Ave. near Baldwin Street. The mission will be moving its Evergreen Centre for Street Youth there by the end of 2017.

But a number of businesses in the area have put signs in their windows voicing their concerns about the new centre opening.

“You bring the people into the area for lunch and dinner. After lunch and dinner, where do they go other than wandering around on the street all night long?” said Chinatown business owner Tonny Louie. “And that alone is petrifying.”

They say they are worried about what an influx of street youth will do to the area.

“(The) Yonge Street Mission, they do good work, but the problem is you can’t do something good at the same time that you’re going to make an area into a no-go zone,” Louie said.

Sally Ritchie is with the mission, which has been located at Yonge and Gerrard streets since 1896. She says this kind of reaction in common and the centre is working to address the community’s concerns.

“We feel that we are a much-needed presence in the area and, in fact, that has been confirmed by the city and other service providers in the area,” Ritchie said. “We want to work with everybody to address concerns of safety, etc., up front so that we can build a facility that will suit everybody’s needs.”

The Evergreen Centre helps about 7,000 young people every year.

“If the street youth are in a facility, they’re not going to be on the street and, obviously, we’re going to be working with them to provide them with the supports they need to change their lives,” Ritchie said.

Still, business owner Eddie Chen said the YSM has not done enough to address their concerns.

“I think they have to do their due diligence to do more outreach in the area, more consultations with the people in the area,” he said.

Those consultations are ongoing, but there isn’t much the local business improvement area can do to stop the YSM from moving in.

Still, the Chinatown BIA said it is planning to fight its new neighbour. It will hold a press conference on Wednesday to voice its concerns.

A petition and a letter have also been written to Toronto Mayor John Tory.

The new centre is expected to open by the end of 2017.

With a report from CTV Toronto’s Heather Wright