Remodel adds bevy of better services in N. Minneapolis
North Minneapolis residents can soon expect more and better services at the N. Lyndale Ave. Salvation Army, including a larger and better food shelf, a new hot meal program, and much more.
It’s all thanks to a 1,400-square-foot building addition and remodeling upgrade to the first floor of the two-story facility. The project began last fall and is scheduled to be completed in June.
The new food shelf will be housed inside the building addition (pictured). The improved food shelf space will allow guests to “shop” for their food rather than take what they are given from volunteers.
“It’s a consumer-choice model instead of the premade bags of food we currently give out,” said Captain Jim Brickson (pictured at top), co-leader of the N. Lyndale Ave. Salvation Army, adding that about 500 people come to the food shelf every month. “We’re excited to give our guests this new option. It avoids waste because guests take only the foods they know they’ll eat.”
The addition will also include a more spacious and inviting reception area.
“It will set the tone and help our guests feel good about coming here,” said Lonny Evans, Recreation and Community Center Director of the facility.
The remodel includes a new kitchen that will be used to create a weekday hot meal program large enough to serve 100 to 150 people, with tables set up in the facility’s 8,000-square-foot gymnasium. Currently, hot meals are not offered.
“Hot meals will be a welcome service to this community’s homeless population, unemployed men and women, and the working poor,” Brickson said. “We are honored to provide them with food in the name of our savior, Jesus Christ.”
Much of the remaining first floor is being gutted to create a more efficient use of the building, which was originally built in the 1920s. Among the upgrades:
- A new weight room, with fitness equipment donated by Snap Fitness in Eagan.
- A large food drop-off area connected to the food shelf. Previously, food donations were accepted in a cramped room and had to be carted across the building through several tiny hallways.
- A central area for employee offices. Currently, offices are scattered throughout the building. “This will make us feel like more of a team,” Brickson said.
The rest of the first floor will get new carpet and paint, as will the entire second floor.
Excitement is high for the new weight room, which will provide an added incentive for community teams and other organizations to rent the facility for sporting activities. The facility currently hosts several organized sporting teams, including two men’s basketball teams (pictured) that this week took first and second place in regular season play in the Minneapolis Park & Rec league.
The construction project is being funded by two incredibly gracious donors – Mary McVay and the late Violet Scott, who left The Salvation Army a gift from her estate.
“The generosity of these two women is going to be a game-changer for North Minneapolis,” Brickson said.
Please join The Salvation Army by volunteering or making a donation to support your local community.