Neepawa's Salvation Army marching into new location

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Published on Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Neepawa Salvation Army manager Amanda Naughton-Gale in the thrift store's current location at 309 Davidson Street

By Eoin Devereux

The Neepawa Press/Neepawa Banner

Neepawa’s Salvation Army will soon have a new home. After years of rumours, the charitable organization’s regional office in Winnipeg has confirmed the local thrift store will be moving into a new space in the former Co-op building, on Mountain Avenue. 

In a media statement released on Friday, July 29, Divisional Secretary Major Rob Kerr noted that the Salvation Army was very pleased to make the preliminary announcement that it had acquired the space and would be moving all of its services into the new location in the near future.

“We’ve always been extremely proud to have a strong presence in Neepawa and its surrounding communities,” said Kerr. “We’re very excited to be expanding that presence and continuing to develop our growing relationship with the people of Neepawa.”

For Neepawa and area manager Amanda Naughton-Gale, this announcement has been a long time coming.

“We’ve probably had this plan in the works for the past two years for sure, and we had been exploring other locations prior to that,” said Naughton-Gale. “It’s been three years of looking, hoping, wanting, waiting. But now, to finally have a signed agreement in place, is simply wonderful.”

Naughton-Gale noted that the new space will provide much more room for the Salvation Army. The existing space on Davidson St. is about 1,700 sq. ft., while the new location could offer as much as 3,000 sq. ft. for retail and additional storage capacity. She noted that this will allow them to expand existing programs and develop new ones.

The former Co-op building will be the future location of the Neepawa Salvation Army Thrift Store.

“We outgrew our current space a long time ago. We’ve done the best we can to manage how full we are and our customers have been patient with us. The community has been patient with us,” Naughton-Gale said. “This new building is a great opportunity for us to continue expanding, being able to offer different and larger products. We’ll have more room for our food bank and space for a board room and classroom type of area. Maybe we’ll be able to do some workshops that would allow us to expand our family services to the community as well.”

As for a timeline for when the official move could begin, Naughton-Gale said that schedule is still up in the air.

“We’re not quite sure of the timeline just yet. We are working with the developers and already have a floor plan concept in place. Of course, there are still other items, such as formal engineering drawings to do. Renovations to the space are ongoing, so the timeline on the final construction isn’t set in stone. Best case scenario, hopefully, we’ll be in there in the new year,” Naughton-Gale stressed.

Currently the Salvation Army operates a thrift store in Neepawa, which also serves as community and family services. In 2013, the food bank assisted a total of 54 homes and 336 individuals during the holiday season with food hampers and toys.