Salvation Army Celebrates Opening Of Worship Center

The Salvation Army is home again on 1701 S. Tuttle Ave. after celebrating its new Corps Community Center on Sunday.

The new $5 million center replaces the original building that stood since 1968 and later had an addition. It's primarily a church and community center as homeless services will only be offered at the 10th Street Sarasota headquarters' Center of Hope. 

"The Center of Hope is kind of like having an ambulance at the bottom of the cliff for people who have fallen off," said Salvation Army Commissioner David Jeffrey, who overseas the corps' southern territory. Whereas the new worship center provides a safety net to catch people before they fall off, he added.

The building features a chapel, 105-foot by 87-foot gymnasium, a multipurpose room, kitchen, game room, computer lab, daycare area and activity rooms.

"As we do the services here, as we have the children and young people come through these doors, their lives are going to be changed, rearranged, and we're going to have a new, better community than what we have already," said Maj. Phillip Murray, area commander for the Salvation Army.

For more information on the new Salvation Army community center, call 941-364-8846, or visit www.salvationarmysarasota.org or facebook.com/thesalvationarmy-sarasota-florida.