Image 1 / 2
The Jackson division of the Salvation Army is planning to build a $3.5 million community complex on Beasley Road. The massive facility will sit on 16 acres and provide the Christian organization with the ability to serve more people and expand its civic services when needed.
Capt. John Showers, commanding officer of the Jackson Metro office, said the facility, dubbed the “Corps Community Center,” could be completed by 2009. A groundbreaking ceremony is slated for January, he said. The facility will feature a new worship center, classrooms, a gymnasium, computer labs, a senior citizens’ day center, walking track and athletic fields.
Through the center, the Salvation Army hopes to begin a new after school program for students and for older residents, a senior citizens’ program. Showers said they’re two programs the group is unable to offer at its Presto Lane location.
“We noticed there’s a need for those programs,” he said. “The facility will help us offer residents a safe atmosphere for fellowship, meetings, lunches and other programs.”
In addition, he said, it will give the Salvation Army the facilities needed to start a new summer program for students.
Once it opens, the Presto Street location will continue to be used as an administrative headquarters and Center of Hope men’s and women’s shelter. The new complex, Showers said, will likely be geared more toward family-related programs.
The new complex will be fashioned after the center built two years ago in Columbus, Ga. Capt. David Swyers, commanding officer at the Columbus division, said it is the flagship that all new Salvation Army posts will be modeled.
It was designed by a group of 100 or so contractors, architects and Salvation Army officers who wanted to create a building that could be used anywhere in the nation. “This is what all of them will look like soon,” Swyers said last week. “It’s a design that can be expanded or decreased in size to meet the needs of the surrounding community.”
SWYERS SAID THE 26,000-square foot facility was completed in 14 months and was well worth the wait. It’s enabled them to serve a greater number of people. “A record 99,000 people walked through our doors last year,” he said.
The building is similar to a giant cog: it has a central location with six doors, each opening to a different, separate wing. Additional wings can be added later, after the initial construction is finished, without inhibiting anyone’s ability to use it.
Local officials hope the Jackson faclity, although smaller than the one in Georgia, will allow officials to serve more people here.
The Salvation Army has been in Jackson for more than 100 years, with a location on West Pascagoula Street for 50 years and another in South Jackson for 10 years.
The army, about five years ago, built a men’s shelter on Presto Street. The center was later expanded to include a chapel and the Jackson administrative offices. A large thrift store is adjacent.
Showers said the facility, although large, doesn’t have the space to house children in emergencies. And, after two expansion projects, there’s also not a lot of room left at the current facility to add on to.
The new facility will take up about half of the 16 acres and will give the army room to grow.
Gene Slusher, a retired Salvation Army lieutenant colonel who was once stationed in Jackson, said there is a great resident base near Beasley Road that will benefit from the new facility. Slusher said the facility is vital to expanding the group’s church as well.
The Presto Street site has a chapel that can seat about 125 people, many of whom stay in the shelter, a factor that’s not conducive to filling seats with families and children.
“We’re not looking to be a mega church,” Slusher said. “We hope to serve more people who aren’t part of the church.”
Post a Comment
