Plans are coming to fruition at 19 Nicol St., where a groundbreaking ceremony was held this week for the Salvation Army’s new building.
The four-storey structure will be built by Kinetic Construction and will replace the old Salvation Army Red Shield Centre, built in the late 1890s and torn down in January 2024 after that structure was deem unsafe to continue operations.
“There has been a lot of work done here over the years and a lot of people have been impacted in big ways,” said Bern Muller, Nanaimo Salvation Army New Hope Centre executive director, during a ceremony Friday, March 14. “We’re looking forward to a time when we’re able to continue that significant impact moving forward.”
When complete, the new structure will have a commercial kitchen with daily dining available for people receiving shelter in the centre and for people who are unsheltered. Muller said the new centre will have additional staff, case workers and councillors and will provide more space for programs and be able to offer more opportunities for community partnerships.
“If we can bring the services into the community where the people are, for them to access, we want to be able to accomplish great good that way,” Muller said.
When completed, the new building have 52 emergency shelter beds, 15 'pathway of hope' beds for vulnerable people living in poverty, and 21 beds for the Salvation Army’s correctional residential facility program that provides residential services, case management and counselling support to people on conditional release from federal institutions, in partnership with Correctional Services of Canada, to help reintegrate offenders into society while maintaining public safety.
“With this increased capacity, we want to support improved wellness … We want to help people on a path for self-sufficiency, where they are able to be independent, to access services they require, and to live full and healthy lives,” Muller said.
Nanaimo Mayor Leonard Krog praised the work the work of the Salvation Army in Nanaimo.
“I was hoping it was going to be a little colder today, because it would remind all of us what this building is about and the work of the Salvation Army in this community,” he said. “To steal the words from the hymn [Oh God, Our Help in Ages Past] to give ‘shelter from the stormy blast.’ That’s what this is about.”
