Goodwill Industries of the Inland Northwest is constructing a drive-thru donation center on the west end of its longtime facility east of downtown Spokane.

The project will include a drive-thru car port and a 940-square-foot donation center at 130 E. Third, says Heather Alexander, a Goodwill spokeswoman.

Baker Construction & Development Inc., of Spokane, is the contractor on the highly visible $300,000 project, and Mercier Architecture & Planning, also of Spokane, designed it. The project is scheduled to be completed next month, Alexander says.

The covered single-lane drive-thru structure will help ease traffic flow and protect donors and employees from inclement weather, she says.

New signage will identify the donation center entrance and exit.

The street-level donation center will be equipped with mechanical lifts, eliminating the need for employees or donors to hoist donations manually onto the loading dock where they previously were placed.

As part of the project, Alexander says, improvements will be made to the west dock and the aging brick façade on the west end of the building, which was constructed in 1945.

Goodwill Industries of the Inland Northwest is an independent, nonprofit, community-based agency of Rockville Md.-based Goodwill Industries International.

It employs more than 500 people regionwide, and operates 11 retail thrift stores in Eastern Washington and North Idaho, as well as an online auction and retail store.

Revenue from the stores fund Goodwill’s programs for people with employment challenges. Goodwill’s programs here serve more than 6,000 people in 23 counties annually.