The old Rite Aid building will, at least temporarily, see new life as Marion Goodwill Industries leases the property.
The city bought the building in 2025 to renovate for its new fire station. But as the city faces financial challenges, the project was put on hold. The building, located at 332 S. Main St., has remained empty ever since.
Marion Goodwill Industries was in search of a temporary location to store and sort clothing donations before shipping them out to stores in the area. The nonprofit is in the midst of constructing a new building it hopes to complete in 2026. In the meantime, it needed a large enough space to store the donations.
After meeting with Mayor Bill Collins and city administration, the nonprofit found that the Rite Aid building would be a suitable location.
“We discussed it as the senior staff and felt that it was much better to have somebody in that building than have it sitting empty,” Collins said. “We experience a little water leak last winter because it was sitting empty and sometimes it’s a while before you find it.”
Marion Goodwill will lease the building for $4,000 a month and pay for utilities. The lease is six months, but the lease gives the option for an extension.
“I think it’s a win-win for us and them,” Collins said. “It gives us some use of that building until such time that we can move forward with the renovation and addition to make it our Station 1.”
The location will not be open to the public or used as a store while Marion Goodwill leases the property. It will have about 10-12 employees on site, which Marion Goodwill President and CEO Michelle Roberts clarified will be new jobs in Marion.
Safety and Service Director Rob Cowell explained the money generated from the lease will be earmarked for expenses related to the fire department.
City council unanimously approved the lease at its meeting on May 26.
This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Goodwill to lease vacant Rite Aid building in Marion
Reporting by Abby Bammerlin, Marion Star / Marion Star
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