The Salvation Army officially unveiled its new Centre of Hope Monday.
The downtown Winnipeg shelter, formerly known as the Booth Centre, has been renamed after undergoing a multi-million dollar upgrade over the last four years.
“Basically the interior of the entire building has been renovated — it’s a seven-floor building — so it’s been a big job.” said the building’s executive director Maj. Gordon Taylor.
“It completely changed the feeling of the building … now (that) we’re up and running with the new set up and you can just see a brightness of the atmosphere in this place.”
WATCH: The Salvation Army’s Centre of Hope’s newly renovated kitchen
The work saw the facility’s front desk area, where clients are booked in, redesigned to improve safety and efficiency and the building’s kitchen upgraded with all new equipment.
Taylor said the kitchen feeds roughly 200 people, three times a day.
“So to have the right equipment to do that is really important,” he said.
The building’s top five floors, which are used for transitional housing, were also revamped during the renovations, which came with a price tag of nearly $14 million.
The Salvation Army’s Centre of Hope offers emergency shelter, transitional housing, addictions treatment, residential mental health programming and a family shelter.
WATCH: The different types of accommodations offered through The Salvation Army
Taylor said the building is 30-years old, and the improvements were needed.
“On any given night in the middle of winter we’ll have up to 400 people staying here,” he said.
“It was time for some upgrades and renovations.”
A spokesperson for the Salvation Army said the money needed for the renovations was raised through fundraising, private donations, and government funding.
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