By RACHEL HUNTER

Staff writer

For the past four months, St. Luke Hospital auxiliary shop volunteers have been waiting for one thing: the promised keys to their new location.

“It’s taken longer than we expected,” Elora Robinson said. “But we want to make sure everything is legal. Now that the appraiser’s been in, all that’s left is making sure all the i’s are dotted and the t’s are crossed.”

In January, the auxiliary announced that they were planning to move into the old Duckwall building (321 E. Main Street) sometime in May, but plans changed when legal issues arose — and delayed the projected opening time.

Volunteers now think it will be another couple of months before things are settled, and they’ll have to move in the hotter summer months of June or July.

“We were hoping not to do it then, because it’ll be hot,” she said. “But, we’d rather do it then than not at all.”

Rosemary Garrand, Auxiliary Shoppe chairman, said many people have come into the store, asking when they’re thinking they’ll move — and each time the answer remains the same: “We’ll let you know when we know.”

She said they don’t know the official opening date of the new location yet, but commented that every step forward is a positive step — for the shop as well as the community.

“We’re so excited to get in there,” Garrand said. “We’ll be able to serve the community even more with the bigger space.”

While things are pretty much set in stone, Robinson told the auxiliary at their May meeting that Scottie Gound had resolved most of the legal complications, and is getting ready to process the deed.

Once everything is complete, Robinson said they’ll start repairing the roof, painting and putting up shelves.

They expect the process to take anywhere from two weeks to a month.