The Franklin School is a historic building which was used as a homeless shelter that was shut down in 2008.

Last week, 13 people loosely affiliated with the Occupy DC movement broke into the Franklin School, demanding that the District open the unused building again to provide shelter for the city’s homeless.

The request wasn’t that outlandish — up until 2008, it served that very purpose — but has proven to be much more complicated than they may have let on.

The City Paper’s Lydia DePillis reports today that maybe the Franklin School wasn’t exactly the sort of place you’d want to shelter anyone in 2008, much less now:

According to the District’s Department of General Services, a building assessment in 2008 showed that the historic school contained enough lead and asbestos that it wasn’t fit for human habitation. Which probably means that the school should have never been used as a shelter in the first place—had the extent of the contamination been known, homeless advocates would have been pissed at the city for exposing people to toxic dust.

Similarly, the Huffington Post’s Arin Greenwood spoke to homeless advocates about the building, and they weren’t exactly jumping at the opportunity to re-open it either:

But the Franklin School is not a panacea. To start, it used to be a men’s shelter, not a shelter for women or for families. Other, perhaps more intractable problems, Silver says, include the building’s lack of a fire safety system, as well as issues with heat, hot water and bedbugs.

“Franklin itself was not a very good facility. I don’t think they should just open it as it is,” Silver said. “I think if the choice is opening the Franklin School or doing nothing, certainly the Franklin School is better than doing nothing. But it really should be a more coordinated approach.”

Of course, there’s something to be said for symbolism. Before last Saturday, the most people would say about the Franklin School is that it’s a shame it hasn’t been put to better — or any — use over the last three years. Now, thanks to the 13 occupiers, the issue of housing the homeless in the District — especially during the winter months, when needs are more pressing — has been pushed to the forefront of local debates.

But very little in this world is very simple, and what to do with the Franklin School certainly isn’t.