Architecture Helps Ease Hunger
Food Bank of the Rockies Grand Junction Warehouse Under Construction
With only finishes and sitework remaining, The Food Bank of the Rockies staff eagerly await the new Western Slope Etkin Family Distribution Center on track to be completed this year. The new facility will almost double the prior 28k of square feet of the Palisade location, bringing 50,400 square feet of warehouse, distribution, and office space to state-of-the art warehouse in Grand Junction. The center will work with smaller food banks to provide food to 12 counties from Steamboat Springs to Aspen and down to Ouray County and provide a new home to Meals on Wheels Mesa County.
Design Rendering
Chamberlin Architects has been integral in problem solving and construction administration while working with our colleagues at Ford Construction. Project lead, Eric Mendell, has shepherded the project from the beginning of the design phase. He finds himself at the core of coordinating a complex facility that will provide for thousands of Coloradans with the growing problem of food insecurity.
The large warehouse area will be accessible to loading docs.
The statistics are sobering. 8.3% of Coloradans do not have enough to eat. Food Bank Director Sue Ellen Rodwick explains how architecture can help, “More space helps, and then having a great design means we’ll be more efficient in what we’re doing. We’ll be able to provide more perishable items, provide more local produce and reduce costs to bring that food to people who need it.”
Providing that efficiency involves close collaboration between Food Bank staff and experienced/ talented architects with heart. Our firm has worked with charitable and non-profit organizations on 75 plus buildings. We are known for the work we do with local organizations like Hilltop Community Services, Karis Inc., Grand Valley Catholic Outreach as well as local hospitals and health clinics. For the Food Bank, supporting community also comes in the form of purchasing local produce in season.
Food Bank Staff Members tour the massive cooler with Chamberlin Architects.
Having outgrown their current space, the seasonal nature of food production means The Food Bank is often overflowing with fresh peaches or corn. They are looking forward to quadrupling the cooler space with the move to Grand Junction. The new facility has 400% more cooler space which is large enough to park 8 concrete trucks within and an equally massive freezer that can keep its contents at a brisk -10 degrees Fahrenheit.
A true charitable collaboration, Meals on Wheels Mesa County, will call this building home with a kitchen and food preparation space to feed 1500 seniors annually.
Meals on Wheels Mesa County Area
Outside an herb garden will provide a relaxing, peaceful environment to be enjoyed and maintained by staff and volunteers. The shady green space will offer an easily accessible reprieve from the busy warehouse and offices and while honoring the Food Banks’ mission to ease hunger.
Chamberlin can proudly say this is the second largest non-profit facility we have worked on, but it won’t be the last. We are proud to be part of another humanitarian project that benefits our community directly.