The pantry serves nearly 800 veterans and their families each month from its location on North Street in Lima. While the service will remain the same, the location will not. The property was sold by Mercy Health St. Rita’s, and pantry leaders are now seeking a new building.

The Lima Elks has been part of the community since the 1800s, and its longtime home at the corner of North and West streets has served as its base since the mid-1900s.

“So what we can do now is just have some people come on board and donate,” said Guy Amos Marcelin, CEO of Good Heart Ministry. “We can get enough money to buy black cement and gravel to get things done by July.”

The new administration building marks the first phase of a broader effort to reconfigure the locations of county offices and courtrooms. Once county departments have moved into the new facility, interior renovations to the historic courthouse will begin. Those upgrades will allow all county courts to be consolidated into one location.