There’s a room for music, a room for clothes and a room for food.
There are plans for a library to become an indoor play area, and for offices to become a chapel.
It’s been just over a year since Maj. Scott Flanders and his wife, Leslie, took over leadership of the Salvation Army in New Kensington and a little longer than that since the church and charitable organization moved into the former Fort Crawford Elementary School on Third Street.
The building has come a long way in that time. The air conditioning doesn’t fully work, but the windows are no longer boarded up. The halls aren’t packed with the school district’s discarded and unwanted things.
Flanders, 50, a native of Dover, Del., who has been a Salvation Army officer since 2000, remembers delivering remarks during their welcoming gathering in the school’s gym, sweating in his wool uniform.
“There was one working light bulb in the gym. There were no fans or AC,” he said. “I felt like I was in prison.”
Scott and Leslie Flanders came to the New Kensington Salvation Army in August 2020, along with Lts. Matt and Stacy Stacy, to manage transforming the school into a community center. The Stacys were transferred to Punxsutawney in June to fill a vacancy there.
Fixing the new digs
New Kensington-Arnold closed Fort Crawford in 2014. The Salvation Army bought it for $850,000, finalizing the purchase in November 2019.
The Salvation Army moved into Fort Crawford in July 2020, shortly after closing the sale of its previous building, a former Presbyterian Church on Fifth Avenue, in June 2020.
Flanders said the Salvation Army wanted to get the building in order before moving in, but the old place sold faster than they expected. It’s now home to an event space, New Ken Social, and Preserving Record Shop.
Under their predecessors, Capt. Phillip and Lt. Angelys Davies, the Salvation Army had to move in before the building was ready to be occupied.
Two streetscape grants totaling $37,000 from the Community Foundation of Westmoreland County paid for replacing the windows, repairing the sidewalk and redoing the playground, and other beautification, Flanders said.
With the air conditioning issue difficult to figure out, they focused on getting the heat working.
“We wanted to make the building appealing to the eye,” said Flanders, of Lower Burrell. “We began chipping away at those things.”
Other groups use space, too
Donna McLaughlin, also of Lower Burrell, has been the social services director for five years. The new location is more accessible, with more space.
“We’re able to reach the community differently,” she said. “Down here, it’s a neighborhood. We have a group of neighborhood kids who play on the playground every night.”
With the basic amenities in place, Flanders said they could focus on improving their programs.
The building has 16 classrooms, evenly split over two floors. The Salvation Army is using the first floor for its operations and renting out rooms on the second floor for nonprofit groups and organizations to use.
That has included Project SEED, which gives food to New Kensington-Arnold students to take home on weekends, and Westmoreland Community Action, which will use a room to expand its Head Start program.
“We’re here for the community,” Flanders said. “We want to be one of the hubs of activity in the community.”
On the first floor, there’s a room for a new music program for elementary children, food pantry, clothing room and a men’s hangout called the “XY Fellowship.”
As they work on setting up programs and services, supply chain issues have delayed getting things such as appliances, shelving and cabinets. It has the start date for the music program in doubt.
“Covid has really hindered everything we’re trying to do here,” Flanders said.
This food pantry is different
That has included getting and repairing equipment for the food pantry, which works differently. Instead of people being given a box of food with things they may or may not want, it’s set up like a small grocery store, complete with carts, for people to select what they want.
“They will come here with dignity and shop on their own,” Flanders said.
It’s open to anyone in need, with no income limits.
“If you’re here because you need it, we’re going to help you the best we can,” he said. “If we can do it, we’ll help. If we can’t, we’ll try to point you in the right direction.”
Wide variety of activities
A shredding event from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday will benefit the food mart. Instead of paying for shredding, people are asked to make a donation — diapers and baby wipes, baby food, cereals and toilet paper are suggested.
Flanders said they want to start a cooking program to teach people how to cook, in part so they can eat more healthfully. He hopes it could be something couples may consider attending on a date night, for a “Rachael Ray kind of evening.”
“We want to make programs available for everyone in the community and not just those in crisis,” he said. “We want to be a community center for the whole community, not just a segment of the community.”
The clothing room is open from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Thursday. Donations are accepted, and Flanders said men’s clothing is needed at this time.
In the works
The indoor play area, chapel and new offices are among future plans.
Planned for the space that had been the school’s library, the play area, Flanders said, will be for younger children, providing a place for activities on rainy or snowy days. It’s three to five years away.
The school’s gym, or multipurpose room, is now serving as the chapel, where nondenominational services are held at 11 a.m. every Sunday.
Flanders’ office is in what had been a copy room. It’s part of the area they plan to turn into a chapel, and move the offices.
About $100,000 has been pledged toward the $200,000 project, which Flanders said will be done after it’s funded.
Everything the Salvation Army wants to do with the building is expected to take six years at a cost of $2 million, Flanders said.
“We have so much potential here,” McLaughlin said.
Not included in that is fixing the air conditioning, for which Flanders said they got a $261,000 quote.
“That’s not a priority in my opinion,” he said. “We are here for the community, not our comfort. We want our funds to go toward elevating the community.”
Brian C. Rittmeyer is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Brian at 724-226-4701, brittmeyer@triblive.com or via Twitter .
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October 03, 2021 at 07:01PM
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