That’s when New Life Evangelistic Center, run by the Rev. Larry Rice, will be shut down.

For almost as long as Rice has been in St. Louis, he has been in a running battle with the city. His walk-in shelter at 1411 Locust Street has long been a source of concern for neighbors in the Washington Avenue loft district. Rice doesn’t play well with others. He is the only provider of homeless services in the city that doesn’t work with the other providers in the Continuum of Care to meet certain standards, connect the homeless to various services, and follow the rules.

Rice’s occupancy permit says he can house 35 people overnight, but he often has 150 to 200 homeless in the center, and during the day, they often camp out outside the building, or by the downtown library. At times there are drug deals, urination and defecation on sidewalks and buildings. No doubt, the crisis is real.

For the past year, as the city waged a legal battle to shut Rice down, it vowed to find shelter for the homeless who had been using Rice’s building.