WEST LEBANON — A group of social service organizations is looking to build a new homeless shelter in the heart of the Upper Valley to help make up for the loss of beds during the coronavirus pandemic, and had been hoping to do so on Main Street in West Lebanon.

Social distancing has halved the number of available beds at the Upper Valley Haven, and some worry COVID-19 precautions will prevent the White River Junction nonprofit from reopening its seasonal shelter, depriving the region of an additional 15 beds this winter.

At the Hixon House Adult Shelter on Route 5, the Haven limited its 10 rooms to 10 people, down from 20 before the pandemic.

“That means that there’s 10 people who normally would be in our shelter who are not,” Michael Redmond, the Haven’s executive director, said Thursday. “They might be in a motel or they might be living out in the woods, in their cars or elsewhere.”

Officials took their first, albeit unsuccessful, step in solving that problem this week by seeking approval for a new shelter and service center in downtown West Lebanon.

The project, pitched by the Haven and Twin Pines Housing Trust, would have put up to 23 beds inside 14 Main St., the former home of the Consign & Design Center. The building would have undergone a renovation and also served as a hub for counseling and other services during the day.

However, the effort was shelved because the federal CARES Act money that the nonprofits sought mandates that construction be wrapped up by Dec. 20, Redmond said.

Work would start in October at the earliest, and there would be little to no leeway for drawn-out Planning Board meetings, construction mistakes or delays, he said.

“Normally, there’s much more time and things can occur sequentially,” Redmond said. “Doing the construction was going to be really challenging.”

It’s also unclear the shelter would get an OK from city officials.

In 2006, the Haven proposed a new shelter for Mechanic Street, but the Lebanon Zoning Board declined to grant several zoning exceptions and the project moved to Hartford.

Regardless of the challenges of building a new facility, the region needs more beds, according to Lynne Goodwin, Lebanon’s human services director.

Even in normal times, she said, the Haven is pressed for space.

In 2019, there were 73 homeless people in Grafton County, according to the New Hampshire Coalition to End Homelessness.

Meanwhile, Windsor County had 113 homeless people living there during a count earlier this year.

“Point-in-time counts and our local counts support the need for a shelter,” Goodwin said, adding that West Lebanon would be a perfect location.

The neighborhood is within walking distance to Listen Community Services’ Bourne Center — which normally offers dinners Monday through Saturday — the Kilton Public Library and Advance Transit bus stops.

Goodwin is part of Lebanon’s Housing First Working Group, which was first formed in 2016 to find solutions to homelessness.

In February, they recommended creating a year-round shelter “located near a bus route, food services, and social services.”

That call was later seconded by neighboring Hartford’s Ad Hoc Committee on Homelessness.

Both Redmond and Goodwin say they’re optimistic another location and source of funding can be found.

They added that several Upper Valley towns are working together on the effort.

Lebanon recently invited the Haven to submit a funding proposal for shelter operations as part of the city’s upcoming budget proceedings, and municipal managers in Norwich, Hartford and Hanover have also expressed a willingness to contribute, Redmond said.

“We’re looking at other ways, particularly for the winter season,” he said.

Tim Camerato can be reached at tcamerato@vnews.com or 603-727-3223.