Work is steadily progressing on The Salvation Army's new Bathurst base in George Street, with the organisation hopeful of opening the doors within the next couple of months.
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Since the Family Store's closure in March and the sale of the Bathurst Corps' Stewart Street base in April last year, The Salvation Army will consolidate its local retail and welfare services into one at the former Beck's Bakery site.
While hopeful of an earlier opening, Salvation Army Bathurst/Orange officer Major Colin Young conceded the centre may not be ready until July.
"There's still a lot of work to be done with the building, and while we're hoping to open earlier, July is sounding realistic," Mr Young said.
"The lease ran out at the Family Store in Keppel Street, so we had no choice but to move, and we might look at opening a temporary office space in the interim."
Once up and running, Mr Young said the new location will provide The Salvation Army with a more centralised location within the Bathurst community.
"The profit from Salvos retail stores goes directly back to the charity to filter out amongst the community, so to have retail and welfare services in the one building will only streamline the process," he said.
"We feel this new location is more promising for retail, as it's closer to the major shopping centres and experiences greater foot traffic."
Mr Young said the organisation is planning to host some form of a grand opening once the store is ready to launch.
"We might host a sausage sizzle and set something up out the front of the store as long as we get permission from Bathurst Regional Council," he said.
"The Keppel Street store had an terrific team of volunteers, some of whom will be coming across to work in the new store."
The new base will be overseen by Bathurst ministry assistant Emily Spindler.
To keep up to date with the new base's development, visit the Bathurst Salvos Facebook page.
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Sam Bolt
"I'm not in the business of telling people what to do. I'm much more in the business of describing things, situations and stuff like that and leaving them out there, and you can make up your minds about them." -Nick Cave
"I'm not in the business of telling people what to do. I'm much more in the business of describing things, situations and stuff like that and leaving them out there, and you can make up your minds about them." -Nick Cave
