PEORIA ( 25News Now ) - The Peoria City Council approved spending up to $300,000 in federal money to prevent the immediate closure of New Hope Apartments on Northeast Jefferson and the possible displacement of about 72 homeless people after two recent fires there.

The fire department ordered a fire-watch put in place in the building two days after a trash fire in a fifth-floor hallway caused an estimated $60,000 damage, and an Oct. 20 intentionally set fire caused an estimated $200,000 damage.

In a memo to the council, city staff said the $300,000 would come from the city’s remaining $523,000 in Biden-era American Rescue Plan funds intended to support the homeless.

“I agree it’s a band-aid to a very severe wound, but what we don’t want to have happen is 72 individuals find themselve

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