The Niles Salvation Army will be moving to a new location in the near future to make room for its growing clientele base.

In March, the Niles Salvation Army purchased the former legion building at 1701 Miller Drive in Niles.

“I think this community will benefit tremendously by us upgrading our building and even, probably down the road, upgrading more services at this new building,” said Major William Walters. “That’s what excites me the most.”

Walters said the plan is to demolish the existing legion structure and build a new 10,000-square-foot facility in its place. The property is 4.3 acres — more than enough room for expansion, if necessary.

Walters said they looked at several other options, including the old YMCA building on North State Street.

“We needed a nice chunk of property for us to grow into the future, and we found that with the legion property,” he said.

The Niles Salvation Army outgrew its current location long ago, Walters said. It serves about 100 families a month just with the food pantry service.

“You hear about the economic times getting better, but we haven’t seen it yet in our area,” Walters said. “We still serve more, and it seems like they aren’t all the same people anymore — we have new people taking on our services.”

The goal for the new structure is to have all of the Salvation Army’s programs housed under one roof.

“We aren’t sure yet. It may be a struggle with 10,000 square feet yet, but we are hoping,” he said. “Of course, the money is the driving factor.”

Walters said the construction project is being paid for by wills and estates left to the Salvation Army. The estimated cost for demolition is roughly $60,000.

The Salvation Army is taking bids for the demolition of the legion building. Walters said he hopes to have demolition done before winter.

“It’s too far out to say when the new building would go up at this point,” he said.

The Niles Salvation Army’s current 6,500-square-foot building at 424 N. 15th St., Niles, is for sale.