Norwich – The St. Vincent de Paul Place soup kitchen and food pantry did not move this weekend after all.

In a written ruling issued Friday, city Director of Inspections James Troeger halted the planned temporary move to the former St. Joseph's School on Cliff Street because the building does not have proper handicapped access.

The soup kitchen, food pantry and case management services had planned to move to the former school cafeteria for two months to allow structural repairs to be made at the current location in the former train station on Railroad Avenue behind Main Street.

He said a licensed professional engineer must first certify that the areas to be occupied are safe for clients and soup kitchen staff.

In his ruling, Troeger said the soup kitchen can remain at the current location as long as work areas along the east wall are segregated by a separation wall from the occupied areas, including the kitchen and serving area. A fence must be erected to make all outside work areas off limits.

Troeger said the former school would need either handicapped access or an accessibility waiver from the state Advocacy Board to allow occupancy without handicapped access.

Temporary occupancy might be allowed for six months if all building codes for temporary occupancy are met, Troeger wrote.