By Logan Wells, News Director | Logan@kymnradio.net
In yesterday’s news, we talked about a visit by state legislators to the Northfield Community Resource Center (NCRC) building last week. The visit was in part to help determine if they would provide State Bonding dollars to help fund work on the building. Today, we’re focusing on what the project would actually entail.
As part of the plan, the construction of a warehouse for the Community Action Centers’ Food Shelf is planned, which Outgoing Executive Director Scott Wopata told legislators will help expand their operations:
“Right now, we’re operating like a MASH unit, as you saw. We’re rolling carts next to daycares. We’re putting classrooms filled with food. We’re shutting down our food shelf and eliminating access to make room for receiving food, donations, and deliveries.” – Scott Wopata, Outgoing Executive Director of the CAC, addressing state legislators.
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Picture by Logan Wells/KYMN News
Picture by Logan Wells/KYMN News
Wopata noted that they have to close the food shelf during deliveries because there is not enough space and because there is a lack of storage. When the food shelf was initially built, it was designed to handle about 20 households a day and 250,000 pounds of food a year. Currently, it’s handling far more, at 80-100 households per day and 1 million pounds per year. The new warehouse would allow for 2,500,000 pounds of food.
Interim Executive Director at 50 North, Carla Johnson, noted how every part of the building was used as much as possible:
“Buildings age, and this building has been used maximally every day with hundreds of people coming and going and things wear out, and just systems wear out, and all kinds of stuff that keep buildings functioning that nobody sees.” – Carla Johnson, Interim Executive Director at 50 North Senior Center
Other plans for the building include renovations to the HVAC System and pool, safety and security upgrades, and other fixes. The city applied for $3 million in state aid, with a $1 million match by the city.
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