By Becca Bolton
The River Food Pantry
We want to share with our Northside neighbors the following update from Dave Beck-Engel, vice chair of The River’s Building Committee:
Construction on our new facility is really picking up momentum. As of early May, all concrete foundations and structural steel framing have been completed. In addition, the standing-seam metal roof is nearly complete. Soon contractors will start the metal siding, which will lead to getting an enclosed, watertight building by the end of June or early July.
Subcontractors are working inside the building to install utilities that run under the floor. This includes plumbing and electrical runs. Once this is complete, the contractors will begin pouring the concrete floor slab. After the floor slab is complete, work inside the building can begin. This includes installation of all heating and cooling systems, electrical, framing of the walls for offices and classrooms, and much more.
Outside work also continues. The site utilities are nearly complete, as is the retaining wall between our site and our neighbor to the south. The geothermal wells for the mechanical system will be installed in the next several weeks. This work will be followed by final site grading and installation of the parking lot this fall.
The overall project schedule is tracking well, with the goal of achieving substantial completion of our new building by approximately December 1st.
This project has been an incredibly collaborative process between The River team, our architectural partners at Ramaker, and all our construction partners, who are led by our construction manager, Advanced Building Corporation.
As of May, The River has received gifts and grants totaling more than $11.94 million to construct our new building. Our larger, purpose-built facility will allow us to serve the rising number of people who rely on The River for healthy, nutritious groceries and meals.
We invite you to help us reach our $12 million goal by supporting our Recipe for Hope Campaign. To give and learn more, visit riverfoodpantry.org/recipe-for-hope.
