The Milwaukee Post

By DAN MUCKELBAUER Post Editor GREENFIELD — The Salvation Army rarely builds church and commu- nity centers, but the location and timing was right for its newest place in Milwaukee County, a spokeswoman said. The Salvation Army broke ground Wednesday on a 9,100-square-foot building at 2900 W. Cold Spring Road. The $1.891 million partial brick structure will go to the east of the church it bought last fall, which was was built as Badger School in the 1930s. "We wanted to be sure we would serve in the area we were needed the most," said Tracy Habermehl, The Salvation Army's divisional property administrator. "Thank God the right space came along." The site will serve the Hispanic community. English- and Spanish-lan- guage services are conduct- ed in the structure that was no longer cost-efficient to remodel to conform with the building code, Habermehl said. The congregation of 65 moved in January to the Cold spring site from office space that the Salvation Army was renting at 2778 S. 35th St., where it set up church every Sunday. After the new building with a chapel that seats 150 is fin- ished in February, the old structure that includes asbestos material will be taken down, Habermehl said. "We started this over 10 years ago," Habermehl said. "This is an untapped area for us." The congregation started out in its Oak Creek loca- tion, but the entire site was needed for people there, she said. In Milwaukee County, The Salvation Army also has church and community centers at North 41st Street and Villard Avenue and North 25th and Walnut streets in Milwaukee. The building built by Miron Construction of Milwaukee will have two classrooms, a fellowship hall, three offices and a reception area, a kitchen and a food pantry, in addi- tion to the chapel. The Salvation Army will offer counseling, client claims assistance, English as a Second Language classes, music classes, school sup- plies, senior citizens pro- grams and other social serv- ices. Unlike the other similar, but larger sites in the coun- ty, there will be no gym ini- tially because of cost, Habermehl said. However, movies, crafts and other activities will be offered in the new facility, she added. Charles Erickson, city of Greenfield Community Development manager, said, "The mission of the Salvation Army is appropri- ate for that property. It's a good addition to the community." "The positive impact is two years ago they occupied a vacant, old school-church building, and they moved into a property already zoned for what they wanted to do. It was a win-win for them to occupy that space to begin with. "Now the wheels are mov- ing to get the brand-new building going. The really, old, in-tough-shape building is eliminated. From my per- spective it's another win- win. They get a newer prop- erty and get rid of an older, challenged property," Erickson said. At first, neighbors were concerned about the new building. "People said, 'I don't want drunks roaming our streets,'" Habermehl said. "Once they learned what we were doing, there was no negative feedback." Neighbors were invited to the groundbreaking and they also now attend picnics on the property, she said. A great deal of research, including studying census data, preceded finding the location and eventual new construction, Habermehl said. The Salvation Army seldom builds new facilities, she noted. "I've been here almost 19 years and I haven't built a new building in the city of Milwaukee, and we're responsible for Wisconsin and Upper Michigan," she said from the division offices in Wauwatosa. "We'll build a new building in Oshkosh in two years." The Salvation Army has 26 church and community centers in the state and the Upper Peninsula, plus small- er service centers some- times operated out of homes for things like rental assis- tance, Habermehl said. July 31, 2015 • Milwaukee County Post • 3 Plunkett Raysich Architects, LLP The Salvation Army Church and Community Center is shown in a design image from 2900 W. Cold Spring Road looking northeast. Construction is expected to begin next month on the building in Greenfield. Salvation Army breaks ground in Greenfield Church and community center to serve Hispanic population PACKARD PLAZA MALL 5656 S. Packard • 414-897-7737 245240119 Hours: Tues-Fri 10-7pm Saturday 9-5pm Auto CD/DVD Holder ANY $10.00 PURCHASE FREE SALE ENDS 8-7-15 32oz Glass Cleaner 75 ¢ 3 pk Ashtrays 90 ¢ 4 pk Paring Knives 90 ¢ 50 pk Dryer Sheets 90 ¢ Dryer Balls 90 ¢ Gel Air Fresheners 90 ¢ 15 Pk Asst. 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