Community
9 June, 2024
Meals on move
CAIRNS Meals on Wheels will move to $7 million new purpose-built premises at Westcourt early next year.
On Wednesday Cairns Regional Council granted the charity a 20-year lease on land at 271 Gatton St. The intention is to move into a new building by the end of February next year.
The redevelopment of Barlow Park to provide Olympic standard facilities has promoted the move with the Queensland Government expected to stump up $6m to construct the building and Meals on Wheels (MoW) funding the $1m fit-out.
Charity general manager Chris Van Dorssen said it was the first time in the organisation’s 55-year history that there would be a building designed fit-for- purpose.
He said MoW had outgrown the current venue and the new kitchen would be three-times the size.
“The head chef warned us that we would have to go to two shifts a day to meet health regulations and to deliver the meals by a certain time if the kitchen was not expanded,” Mr Van Dorssen said. The new building will include a full commercial kitchen, staff/volunteer areas, cold and dry food storage, meal storage (in emergencies), administration and amenities, vehicle storage, dispatch/collection area, support services and two street frontages for drive-through access, a power generator and water storage.
Mr Van Dorssen said MoW was pleased to have its own premises after shifting three times since 1969.
He said the new premises would serve the organisation for another 50 years with provision in place to move administration upstairs in the future so the entire ground floor could be devoted to cooking and food preparation and dispatching.
It is expected the government will announce the $6m funding soon, tenders to be advertised in July and the sod turning in August.
Mr Van Dorssen said MoW would not be closing during construction, continuing to operate at Barlow Park until February next year.
He said MoW had been putting money aside for years to fund a shift, although would now be up for electricity, water, sewerage and waste removal costs after the council had covered those expenses at Barlow Park since 1984.
MoW has nine staff, including three chefs and an apprentice chef, 97 volunteers (20 required daily Monday to Friday) to deliver about 800 meals in 10 runs a day.
The site is between the senior citizens hall and Mercy Place with another frontage on Lyons St. Land on the other side of the hall is for a sports reserve.
