The Salvation Army is closing its Utica Family Store Donation Center, the company announced Thursday.

The building, located on Cornelia Street, is one of the properties impacted by the new downtown hospital proposal.

Salvation Army officials said they could not find another location that suited their needs. They accepted what they call a generous and fair purchase offer from Mohawk Valley Health System for the property.

About 15 employees will be affected and some will be able to transfer to other locations.

They will be closing June 15 and ask that donations to that location stop immediately, but they encourage customers to visit the army's other family stores.

They will continue to look for a new location.

The Mohawk Valley Health System and The Community Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida Counties both released statements. 

“We are extremely grateful to the Salvation Army for working with us to realize our mission of transforming healthcare in our region. We recognize that this change was not in the immediate plans for the Salvation Army, but we all appreciate the significant changes they are making to allow us to improve the health and quality of life in our community. MVHS has committed assistance to property owners for relocation and we remain dedicated to providing that assistance, if requested. We trust the Salvation Army will be able to find another suitable location to do business within the City of Utica,” said Robert Scholefield, the Executive Vice President/COO of the Mohawk Valley Health System. 

"The Community Foundation is working with the Salvation Army, as it has with other nonprofit partners in the hospital project footprint, to help find a suitable location," said John Swann, the Executive Vice President of The Community Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida Counties.