The new facility will be larger and more practical and will serve as a warehouse, distribution center and administrative offices, said Major Henry Tempel. The center’s drug and alcohol treatment facility on S. Patterson Blvd. will stay put.
“We had been negotiating a long time … but we got the title less than a month ago,” Tempel said. “We hope the new facility is going to help us service the general public better and more efficiently.”
The Salvation Army’s warehouse and administrative offices are located in a three-story building.
Donations are stored on the upper floors before being distributed to the center’s five retail stores in Piqua, Middletown, Springfield, Centerville and downtown Dayton.
But retrieving and transporting materials from storage can be hassle, especially since the building’s elevator occasionally breaks down, Tempel said.
“We’ve got stuff up on the second floor that stores are waiting for, but we can’t get it to them because the elevator is broken down,” he said.
The outdated building will be demolished once the center moves to its new one-story home, Tempel said. Officials say they are uncertain how the property will be used following demolition.
The Salvation Army’s family thrift store located on S. Patterson Boulevard will continue operating for at least another year. But officials said they are looking for a new location for the store in northeast Dayton.
Revenue from the sale of donated clothing, furniture and household goods from the center’s five stores supports the adult drug and alcohol rehabilitation program. The facility can accommodate 58 men and a dozen women.
The Salvation Army’s adult rehabilitation centers are designed to help people with chemical or alcohol dependency and help participants maintain stability and abstinence and reclaim their lives, families and aspirations, according to the Salvation Army in Central Ohio.
The new warehouse and distribution center is undergoing minor remodeling in preparation for the relocation.
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