Kitchen Serves Up Opportunity For Edmond Town Hall’s Future

By Kendra Bobowick

With the blue prints spread across the table Monday night, the Board of Managers members considered their options for upgrading the kitchen adjoining the Alexandria Room.

Member Jim Juliano ran down a list of possibilities including a three-bay sink, grease traps, freezers, drains, sinks, a griddle, convection ovens, and into invisible details including proper water temperatures and how pipes would be routed.

The kitchen is an important piece of the town hall’s future, as its identity shifts. Municipal offices will be relocating to a new town hall at a renovated building on the Fairfield Hills campus, leaving the Edmond Town Hall’s options open.

Following the managers’ meeting Monday, Mr Gill considered the kitchen and the building’s future. “The town hall will succeed one way or another, but the kitchen is a large part and will be the only catering facility of that size.” The kitchen is “definitely” a crucial part of the future, he said, but the room’s importance is nothing new, according to Mr Gill.

“It was a crucial part of town hall in the past, used for weddings and banquets, and there is a stage for plays,” he said.

During the meeting the board members “walked” their way through the kitchen from the sinks to the service window opening toward the Alexandria Room. Mr Gill said, “Prepping is in one place and goes out another, it has got a coffee station — to me this is a kitchen you want for catering.”

And, catering is precisely the point.

Also during a later interview, Mr Gill noted that the former Fireside Inn is now gone and said, “[The town hall] will be the only catering facility of that size.”

Picturing what the space may become, he said, “I want to make it a destination; we can rent out the Alexandria Room and with the kitchen — it’s a more attractive deal from a catering standpoint.”

As members leaned in over the prints Monday and looked at locations for hand sinks, dishwashers, ice storage bins, and worktables, member Sandra Motyka reminded them of another important factor in the facility’s makeover.

“I want the department of health involved, this needs to be collaborative,” she said. In the later interview, Chairman Jay Gill said that he intends to abide by the advice of both the health and building departments. “I am not going to move forward with anything without approval; we want to keep them 100 percent in the loop at all times,” he said. He had moved to acquire the plans ahead of time, however.

“I wanted to have something in place before approaching them with the idea,” Mr Gill said.

“I seek their blessing, and if they say we need to do X, Y, and Z, then we’ll do X, Y, and Z,” he said. Overall, the prints mark the beginning of a larger project to come. Member James Juliano said Monday, “This is the first step in 100 miles.”

From across the table, member Jane Sharpe looked up from the renovated kitchen plans and replied, “This is a terrific first step.” Agreeing, Ms Motyka said, “It’s a huge first step.”

The board’s next steps include bringing the prints and ideas to the town departments, and acquiring bids for equipment costs and work. Mr Gill said the project could cost roughly $300,000 to $400,000, but no estimates have been done yet.