Salvation Army looks to break ground on property off MLK Parkway in early 2024

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — The Salvation Army of the Cape Fear has owned 22 acres of land off Martin Luther King Parkway for nearly a decade, with plans to build a new shelter and community center.

The project has been a work in progress, but after remaining dormant for a while, they’re one step closer to breaking ground.

“Normally projects don’t take quite this long but again ,we hated to have to sell the other shelter to get us to the point where we could move forward. But, that was the final boost that got us moving,” said Major Ken Morris with The Salvation Army.

Work will begin in early 2024 on the Center of Hope, the new shelter for The Salvation Army. After that, a community center will be built beside it. But first, the City of Wilmington still has to give final approval of the design plans.

“The community center will have additional rooms for craft and youth activities, a full gym. That gym can also be used for disaster shelter, emergency shelter if a storm were to come through,” said Major Morris.

This new facility will keep families together, which is something the former location on Second Street was not equipped to do. It’s an improvement City Councilman Kevin Spears praised during a city council agenda briefing  in October.

“It’s good to see that it’s starting to be address where families can go into a shelter together and not have to be separated and I’m hoping that more organizations take that approach,” said Spears.