Downtown Peoria’s historic Labor Temple building is being demolished, making way for the complete renovation of the Salvation Army campus, including construction of a new two-story men’s shelter.
Demolition work with heavy machinery started Monday morning. Peoria-area Salvation Army Commander Heath Sells says the building should be completely down within two to four months.
“For the last 20, 25 years, the Salvation Army has been housing single men in the Sylvia Fites Family Service Center, but we have reached capacity,” said Sells. “And it is our desire to be able to house more.”
Services will continue as normal at the Sylvia Fites Center throughout the construction process. Once the new shelter on the south corner of Bryan Street and Jefferson Avenue is finished, men at the center will be transferred there and the old shelter, along with the old veteran’s center, will also be demolished.
Sells says the new building will provide 30 more spaces for men experiencing homelessness, raising their overall capacity from 52 to 82. It also features improved dormitories, dining halls and case management offices.
Sells says there can sometimes be a public perception of homeless single men that they should “pull themselves up by the bootstraps” and be able to help themselves. The Salvation Army offers the only low barrier men’s shelter in Peoria.
“We don’t want to be in a position where we just assume,” said Sells. “So we want to come alongside them, treat them with dignity and walk through them with their paths and whatever that takes to bring them into full housing.”
The new shelter is one part of a larger overhaul project of the organization’s downtown campus.
The Salvation Army’s administration building is slated for major renovation and sits on a property adjacent to the Labor Temple. The administration building will also absorb the Salvation Army’s family services and veteran’s center.
The overhaul also includes improved security, changes to parking and pedestrian walkways and new signage.
Sells says the changes will improve the organization’s services across the board.
He says fundraising for the project is still ongoing, though a pair of donations totaling over $9 million in February provided a kickstart. The new men’s shelter has also been boosted through a $2 million state grant.
A formal capital fundraising campaign for the campus overhaul’s $18 million first phase is scheduled to start this summer, along with a groundbreaking. A $12 million second phase includes projects like expansion and renovation of the organization’s family shelter and food pantry.
Construction on the first phase is slated for completion by the end of 2026.
