In time for the holidays, The Salvation Army will move its Arlington Family Store to the Big Lots-anchored center at 9119 Merrill Road, just off the Interstate 295 East Beltway.
The nonprofit is moving the business from 5929 Merrill Road, not far from University Boulevard, where it has operated since Oct. 1, 1995.
Spokesman Joseph Cohen said the new store will celebrate a grand opening Dec. 6 with free food, drinks, door prizes and festivities. The current store closes Nov. 29.
The new store will be larger — with 15,000 square feet for shopping and a 3,000-square-foot donation center. The existing store is about 12,000 square feet and uses a donation trailer out front, which won’t be necessary at the new location.
Permits show renovation and sign costs of at least $77,880.
The Salvation Army will employ seven people at the new store, up from four at the existing location.
“The new store comes as a relief for us in the area because the old facilities had become worn out,” Cohen said.
“We have made a big investment into the new location as well, fully renovating the inside and making it into something that truly reflects the quality and environment we hope to present to the community,” he said. Cohen added that staff provided much of the design, painting, shelving and aesthetic work.
Cohen said the additional showroom space will allow the nonprofit to bring in more products and the larger donation center will provide more staff to assist donors.
The 9119 Merrill Road shopping center formally was anchored by Walmart.
The Salvation Army Family Stores support the organization’s outreach programs by turning donated, reusable goods into funding.
“Your donation could mean a mother and child are housed, a hungry man is fed, and a family stays warm,” says the salvationarmynefl.org site.
Orange Park Medical Center plans new emergency department
Orange Park Medical Center plans to build a free-standing emergency department in West Jacksonville at 6477 103rd St. in Jacksonville.
Charles Perry Partners is the contractor for the proposed $4 million construction job that will encompass an 11,120-square-foot building and 2,480 square feet of unenclosed space.
The building-permit application calls for the demolition of an existing bank building at the site, north of 103rd Street and west of Jammes Road.
Orange Park Medical Center Inc. bought the 4.65-acre property for $810,000 on Aug. 22 from Fifth Third Bank.
Site plans filed with the city show Littlejohn Engineering as the civil engineer.
Orange Park Medical Center is based at 2001 Kingsley Ave. in Orange Park, where it operates an emergency department. The new site is 7 miles north of it.
The city plans show the owner as HCA Health Services of Florida Inc., based in Nashville.
The center is part of HCA South Atlantic Hospitals, a group that includes Memorial Hospital and Specialty Hospital Jacksonville.
Memorial Hospital already operates two free-standing emergency departments in addition to its campus emergency department – about 8 miles west at Atlantic and Kernan boulevards in Duval County and about 20 miles south at Julington Creek in St. Johns County.
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