RAPID CITY - Kim Warner is looking forward to the day when her job at the Salvation Army Thrift Store doesn't involve ceiling-high stacks of clothes.

"I've still got to go through all of those," Warner said, motioning to the hundreds of unopened bags piled, crammed and smashed into a nearby corner.

It's a great problem to have - too many donations and not enough space, Maj. Robert McLintock said.

But it's a problem they are hoping to remedy with the construction of a new 20,000-square-foot facility on St. Patrick Street.

Construction crews poured the concrete foundation for the new building Tuesday, which will more than triple the amount of space the Salvation Army has on Main Street, a building of 6,000 square feet.

Construction began a couple of months ago, and Salvation Army officials hope to move in by January.

"We're ready," Dorothy Young, manager at the Main Street location, said. "Look at this."

In a back room, volunteers and employees hustled around boxes, stacks and piles of items in various stages of donation and sale.

It's hard to keep everything organized, Warner said, but not as bad as it used to be when she first started working at the Salvation Army four years ago.

"The store has come a long ways," she said. "It used to be just tables, no original shelving. Everything was just shoved out in boxes. We want it to go further; we've helped a lot of people."

Convenience for employees and shoppers is a priority, but the real reason for the move, McLintock said, is safety. The loading ramp behind the current facility is only a half ramp; there is very little off-street parking, and a semitrailer truck blocks half the roadway once a month when picking up unsellable items. "There's a multitude of issues," McLintock said.

The new building will include increased sales-floor space, a larger storage warehouse and a full receiving dock.

Officials are also hoping the move will help more families. McLintock said the Salvation Army, which is a nonprofit organization, donates all extra money to services and projects for those in need.

He estimates that for every day the store is open, it is able to help two families pay one month's rent and heating bills.

"With the new store, we are hoping to double that in the first 12 months," McLintock said. "And within two years, our goal is to triple it."

Warner is also looking forward to a new baler, which will make it easier for her to bundle unsellable clothes, which are then sent overseas.

Until then, McLintock said, he doesn't want people to stop donating.

"The donations are absolutely fantastic," he said. When the time does come for the move, people will remember the new location as the old drive-in movie theater.

Warner is ready for the change.

"I'm looking forward to starting fresh," she said.