With nearly $120,000 in contributions, grants, and pledges already received, the Buildings and Grounds Committee of the Andover Community Hub is about to begin installing an approximately 400-square-foot community kitchen in Andover’s old town hall at 157 Main St. in Andover Village.
Expected to cost about $35,000, the kitchen will contain all the usual kitchen items, although in a size capable of serving up to 60 diners at a time. Many of these items have already been donated or purchased, including a prep table and sink, hand sink, three-bay sink, several pieces of cabinetry, a small freezer, and a rolling sheet pan rack.
Layout designers were Hub board members Gisela Darling, Ty Morris, and Doug Phelps. To keep costs as low as possible, much of the installation will be provided by members of the Hub’s Buildings and Grounds Committee Paul Currier, Steve Darling, Ken Wells, and Doug Phelps.
As the “Come On In” advertisement on page ?? of this Beacon indicates, local residents (and other Beacon readers) are invited to help fund the project, whose goal was described in the Holidays 2022 edition of the Beacon as follows:
“Adding a kitchen will be a particularly effective way to help build a broader sense of community in our small town. It will open up the possibilities of community dinners, cooking classes for kids and adults, senior meals, and potentially even make production space available to home-grown businesses that have outgrown their residential kitchens, thereby playing a small role in the economic development of our town.”
Barring unforeseen circumstances, the installation should be completed by early fall. Well before that time, however – perhaps as soon as the end of June, according to Phelps – Hub users may be able to entertain small gatherings with food prepared in the facility.
As the ad on page ?? indicates, the community kitchen project is the final element of a three-stage “Come On In” capital campaign, whose first two stages – a new roof to replace a badly leaking one, and a universal access ramp – have been completed.