© Andy Barron/RGJ Homeless people gather aroung the corner of Fourth Street and Record Street near the Reno Sparks Gospel Mission on Wendesday March 18, 2020.

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Reno is opening the Downtown Events Center as a makeshift homeless shelter, but it won't be adding much new capacity for additional people.

Volunteers of America, which operates the region's homeless shelter, plans to move nearly all of its residents from Record Street and the overflow shelter on Washington Street to the events center.

The events center will give VOA enough room to space out the shelter's residents according to the recommended 6-foot guidelines from the CDC for protecting against coronavirus. It also will have about 50 more beds than are currently in operation at the shelter's current locations.

But because the shelter has a limited number of mattresses and blankets, it will be closing its existing facilities overnight except for veterans and individuals with medical needs.

"If you were at Record Street last night you'd see people were sleeping shoulder to shoulder," said the shelter's director Pat Cashell. "There is absolutely no social distancing going on and it's not safe for anybody."

Cashell said he hopes to place orders for more blankets and mattresses on Monday and will be able to assess whether the additional facilities can reopen for overnight sheltering when supplies arrive.

"We wanted to get the social distancing right away," he said.

Until then, Record Street will be available to the homeless only for showering, meals and laundry, Cashell said.

The city of Reno opened its 118,000-square-foot concert venue as a response to the coronavirus pandemic.

"It may not be a permanent solution, but it is what we can do right now with the timing and facilities we have," said Councilman Devon Reese.

The Downtown Events Center is owned by the city but used as a concert venue by downtown casinos. The building has been vacant after an order by Gov. Steve Sisolak to close all non-essential businesses in the state in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Councilwoman Neoma Jardon said in a tweet Friday night that the events center will have enough space for 400 people to sleep.

The events center also will give the city enough space to quarantine homeless individuals who may come down with the coronavirus, Reese said.

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To date, no shelter residents have tested positive for the virus, Reese said. But that could be because testing is so limited.

© JASON BEAN/RGJ Carl Streeter, front left, and others wait to be let into the homeless shelter on Record Street in Reno on March 20, 2020.

On Friday, Volunteers of America began monitoring residents' temperature with thermometers provided by Saint Mary's Regional Medical Center. The shelter also has restricted the availability of showers and restrooms to give staff enough time to regularly disinfect the facility.

Reese said he didn't know how the shelter at the events center would be staffed, but noted that the VOA has been hiring new employees.

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Reese said no showers are yet available at the events center, but hand-washing stations will be brought in for those being sheltered. Jardon said in her tweet that 13 Sani-huts will be available in the downtown area.

Finding restrooms has been even more difficult for the homeless with libraries, casinos and other public buildings closed.

© JASON BEAN/RGJ People wait to be let into the homeless shelter on Record Street in Reno on March 20, 2020.

Holly Welborn, policy director for the Nevada ACLU, said the city's decision to open the events center is positive news and that more work needs to be done.

"Our most vulnerable residents deserve an equal opportunity to protect themselves against COVID-19," she said. "We look forward to learning more about protocols to meet CDC requirements and to provide food and access to healthcare."

Anjeanette Damon is the government watchdog reporter for the RGJ. You can reach her at adamon@rgj.com or follow her on Twitter @AnjeanetteDamon. If you care about shining a bright light on decisions made by your elected officials, please consider subscribing to the Reno Gazette Journal.

This article originally appeared on Reno Gazette Journal: Reno to open Downtown Events Center to shelter the homeless amid coronavirus outbreak