PEORIA, Ill. – The Peoria Salvation Army is seeking options on what to do with a building it purchased last year.
The organization bought the former Labor Temple building on Jefferson and Spalding in downtown Peoria, next door to its men’s shelter.
Major Heath Sells tells WMBD’s “Greg and Dan” the Salvation Army is in the exploratory phase of what to do with the building, but progress is moving forward.
“One of the very first steps we needed to do was yesterday (Thursday). We needed to go in front of the Zoning Commission to make sure that our entire properties including, to make sure we could do those options of rehab or razing the Labor Temple, gave us an opportunity to make sure we’re compliant with current code,” Sells said.
Sells says one option for the property is replacing the men’s shelter, but wants to know what the community desires for it. He says what the Salvation Army wants, might not be what the community needs.
“The great danger would be that we would want to go out and do what we think we need to do,” Sells said. “But our charge and responsibility that we feel in Peoria is to make sure that we are meeting the community’s needs, and that’s the catalyst of our services and programs; spiritually, emotion, and physical.”
Sells says some potential options include a place for emergency food services or child care.
He says it may take a while to fully gauge public opinion on the building’s future, but adds that “things are moving quickly.”
Comments