UPDATE: Building repossessed, locks changed at The Loop in Kamloops

Fences were taken down and locks were changed on Saturday morning as The Loop was evicted from its North Kamloops building. It was just days after drop-in centre volunteers ignored an eviction ordered by its new owner. A court bailiff, police and bylaw officers were at 405 Tranquille Road just after 7 a.m., Aug. 3. Realtor Brendan Shaw announced he bought the property in April and initially gave The Loop and its operator Glenn Hilke less than a month to leave. That was later extended to July 31, but The Loop didn't leave. Shaw did not answer a phone call from iNFOnews.ca, but he did email a statement through a spokesperson. "On the morning of August 3, 2024, possession of 405 Tranquille Road was made with a bailiff securing the site. Unfortunately, the mutually agreed upon July 31, 2024 timeline to vacate was not honoured by the tenant," the statement reads. "Regarding a year-round shelter with services, I look forward to further announcements from the Access Hub Leadership Committee." The Loop has long been a controversial program along the Tranquille corridor, where it's been deemed a nuisance property by the city and has faced thousands in fines due to repeated emergency and bylaw calls to the property. Hilke initially remained and showed defiance for the eviction by continuing the service, but he later said he had a mover arranged for 9 a.m. Saturday morning. He said his attempts to reach Shaw earlier in the week to notify him of the plan to leave over the weekend went unanswered.  "The impact on the folks we serve at The Loop is now they don't have access to the food we have inside the building," Hilke said. "With The Mustard Seed closed, Shaw has participated in making sure food insecurity is city-wide today," he said. Some frequent visitors to the drop-in centre were outside The Loop organizing their belongings in carts as the property was repossessed. "It's starvation, we're already starved. I'm back on suboxone for the tenth time, I'm off dope," Megan said, who said the lack of a drop-in centre like The Loop will only make it harder to stay clean. She was organizing her belongings into a cart along the Tranquille Road sidewalk, expecting to find an encampment along the riverbanks now. A community services officer at the scene said he was there to assist, as they do with police, but his primary role was to direct any homeless clients of The Loop to services, provide water and suggest places where they are allowed to camp. The only current replacement for The Loop, and the now-closed day space at The Mustard Seed, is a meal program at the Ask Wellness office on Tranquille Road. That program, however, is not an all-day meal program and it's only open Monday to Friday. It does, however, offer some healthcare service and referrals to other services like supportive housing. The city is working with BC Housing, non-profits and, potentially, Interior Health to open its "access hub" on the North Shore that could replace much of what The Loop had done. That isn't expected to open until at least this winter. The Loop, meanwhile, is going on the road. Hilke said food inside the building is locked away and they have no access, but he has an arrangement with the food bank where he will be picking up food that it low risk and easy for travel. "We'll keep doing what we're doing because people got to eat," he said. — This story was updated at 9:35 a.m., Aug. 3, 2024, with comments from Glenn Hilke. To contact a reporter for this story, email Levi Landry mailto:llandry@infonews.ca  or call 250-819-3723 or email the editor mailto:news@infonews.ca . You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom mailto:tips@infonews.ca  and be entered to win a monthly prize draw. We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here https://infotel.ca/newsletter .