Groundbreaking at Last
The official groundbreaking photo (L-R): Tucker England, Lisa Boswell, Nick Cunningham, and Matt Pedigo. Photo by PJ Martin
By PJ Martin
Editor
The Herald-News
Back on October 3, 2022, Lieutenant Governor Jacqueline Coleman traveled to Edmonton to announce funding for major Metcalfe County projects. One of those projects was a larger food pantry at Bowling Park.
The Lt. Gov. Coleman awarded $986,000 in a Community Block Development Grant Coronavirus Response (CDBG-CV) to build a much larger food pantry at the George K. Bowling Park. The funds were to be used for the pantry building, resurfacing the parking lot, and resurfacing the current food pantry lot.
On that day Lisa Boswell, the Manager of Bowling Park stated, “Last year [2021], Bowling Park gave out over 339,000 pounds of food and that’s above and beyond the commodities and the senior boxes. The need is great in our county and Bowling Park is just so very grateful for this money that we will be able to accommodate the expansion and the needs of our community,”
Since that time, the need has increased dramatically within the county, especially with today’s inflation.
After 18 months of paperwork, discussion with architects, and three rounds of taking bids for the construction work, a groundbreaking ceremony was finally held on Wednesday, April 10th at Leftwich Hall for the Food Pantry Project.
Lisa Boswell spoke to those in attendance about how grateful she is to receive the funds and introduced Tucker England of Precision Engineering who has worked many hours on the project and Matt Pedigo the grant administrator at BRADD who has also worked many hours toward the groundbreaking. Also in attendance was Nick Cunningham who is part of the J Stephens Construction, Inc. team who are ready to get started on the building.
According to Pedigo, the contract gives the construction crew 240 days to complete the construction. That means by the first of December 2024, the pantry should be finished.
This is the second time a larger pantry building has been constructed to fill the community’s needs in the last 10 years. After the many months of work it has taken to get to the groundbreaking, Boswell smiles as she refers to it as, “The Last Pantry.”
The amazing volunteers who keep the food pantry going. (L-R) Kathy Frick, Karen Gambrel, Kathy Powers, Karen Garmon, Sue McKenzie, Sandy Froedge, Deb Fetchik, and Amira Tarr. Photo by Kim Harwood
Bowling Park Board of Directors (L-R): Steve Scholar, Holly Coleman, Lisa Boswell, John Froehlich, Kim Smith, and Cathy Jessie. Photo by Kim Harwood
In 2022, then Lt. Governor Jacqueline Coleman presented then Judge/Executive Harold Stilts and Park Manager Lisa Boswell with the grant. Photo by PJ Martin
