A new 50,000-square-foot complex will be built to house many of the agency's programs.
By JENNIFER FARRELL
Published November 21, 2003
CLEARWATER - Construction is expected to begin early next year on a new headquarters for the Salvation Army in upper Pinellas County.
The $5-million project will convert the defunct Clearwater Community Hospital, at the corner of Druid Road and Highland Avenue, into the social service organization's North Pinellas hub.
The current headquarters on N Fort Harrison Avenue will be sold.
On Tuesday, the city's Community Development Board unanimously approved plans for the new complex, which will include office space for social and correctional services as well as emergency and senior housing.
Maj. Roy Johnson, who oversees the Salvation Army in North Pinellas, said the organization revamped its original proposal, which the city approved in July 2001. Instead of simply transforming the hospital, crews will tear down most of the existing facility and build four new buildings on the 6.9-acre site, city records show.
"We kind of had a reconsideration of what we're going to do with the property," Johnson said. "We decided it would be inappropriate to fit programs into the existing building."
Construction is expected to take 10 to 12 months and Johnson said the Salvation Army is planning to leave its current headquarters, which occupies roughly half a city block, in early 2005. Developer Jerry Ellenburg has expressed interest in the Fort Harrison Avenue property, but no deal has been inked, according to Johnson. Ellenburg couldn't be reached late Thursday.
The new 50,000-square-foot complex will be named the Mallory-Powell Social Service Complex, for local philanthropists Bernard Powell and George Mallory, who, together, have pledged more than $2-million to the project.
The complex will more than double the space the Salvation Army has for its North Pinellas efforts.
Among the programs to be located there will be expanded emergency housing: six housing units for people with AIDS, 12 units for families needing emergency shelter and six units for single people trying to make a transition from being homeless.
There will be space for family services and administrative offices, and the site will become the home of the Salvation Army's program to provide probation officers to misdemeanor offenders.
The "Christmas Joy" toy and food drive and the Salvation Army's growing Hispanic outreach programs will also have dedicated space for their efforts.
This week, crews started asbestos abatement work at the hospital, and Johnson said he hopes construction will begin in earnest by February.
"We're right around the corner, now," he said.
In February 2003, the organization launched a fundraising campaign to pay for the project. On Tuesday, Johnson said the agency has raised roughly 40 percent of its $7-million goal.
The organization expects to receive more large-scale gifts of $500,000 to $1-million each, according to Johnson.
"They're just hard to come by these days," he said. "You get a few of those and it will help us quite a bit."
