But, it was worth it.

After a successful first few days of our “soft opening”, we ramped up the production for our Grand Opening Celebration on Saturday.

The Local Oven is an anchor tenant at Sharing Spaces Kitchen. While it is technically part of Opportunity Enterprises Inc, which is owned by the Opportunity Center, bakery acts as its own individual business and as a model for other future tenants of Sharing Spaces Kitchen.

After we finish helping to launch this new bakery business, our focus will turn to creating value added products for our Opportunities Blooming greenhouse and other entrepreneurs with the next great food product or idea.

The picture to the right shows the “bakery side” of our kitchen area. The other half of the space is designated for other general purpose processes.

Also not shown is the large dry storage area, walk-in cooler and freezer, classroom, loading docks, and office areas. I will post more photos soon. I’ll also post photos of tomorrow’s pie baking marathon, too. What an exciting time!

I knew this week was going to be chaotic; this final week of construction of Sharing Spaces Kitchen. Getting ready for the launch of operations at the facility, including the brand new Local Oven Bakery business we are also starting.  I knew for quite some time that this week would be filled with late nights, stress, changing plans, and even some worry.

All of that was true for me. But, the whole week, I wasn’t anywhere close to Sharing Spaces Kitchen.

Instead of wading knee-deep in what I expected to be the busiest and chaotic time at work I have probably ever experienced, I spent the week at the UW Children’s Hospital in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit with my 16-month old son. Fortunately, I have good news to report and he is on his way to recovery, though I have a feeling that we are going to get to know this hospital pretty well over the next couple months.

Meanwhile, back in Prairie du Chien, Pam and Tiffany have taken care of essentially everything that came up this week, allowing me to focus entirely on supporting my son. I am touched by their support and grateful for their hard work. I truly love my job and have nothing but respect and adoration for my co-workers.

So, on this November 18th, the day circled on my calendar as the day that Sharing Spaces Kitchen would be “ready”, the day started this construction blog for, the day that was years in the making, I won’t be around to see it. That’s fine. I have a little boy that’s feeling much better, sleeping soundly in a hospital bed next to my “barely-comfortable-but-I’m-sleeiping-in-it” hospital room recliner. The kitchen will be there when I get back.

If there were ever a week to “go with the flow”.

I love giving tours of the kitchen, even in its unfinished state. Each visit is filled with a variety of pleasant reactions. Wow! Eyes opened wide. Jaws dropping to the floor.

“I’ve seen hundreds of kitchens, I wish they all could look like this!”

“Our truck drivers are going to love this place.”

“I think you guys will be thinking about building a second building soon.”

“This is so cool!”

…just a few quotes from the past week.

Today we welcomed Senator Jennifer Shilling, Prairie du Chien Mayor Dave Hemmer, and others involved with economic development in Crawford County. The tour included a walk-through of our main building at the Opportunity Center, Opportunities Blooming greenhouse, and the almost-complete Sharing Spaces Kitchen.

We’re one week away from a finished kitchen facility. I can’t wait for the first tour that will include an actual peek at production inside Sharing Spaces Kitchen.

Inside, the finishing touches are being applied, including signage, trim, ceiling tiles, and other fixtures.

The majority of the kitchen equipment was delivered on Monday. We got our first look at the ovens, mixers, kettles, tables, and other equipment that we and our incubator tenants will be using every day.

We’re still on track for the facility’s construction to be completed by November 18th. Our Local Oven Bakery is hoping to start baking pies in time for Thanksgiving by the following Monday.

To the right, you can see the hallway leading to our classroom. Offices are on the left hand side. The door to the kitchen area is on the right.

With the opening of Sharing Spaces Kitchen now only days away, we’ll continue to see more and more produce grown by Opportunities Blooming.

Here is what the kitchen looks on the outside right now. The lighting, soffit, and, finishing brickwork need to be finished yet.

The office & classroom walls have been primed and textured; and now are getting their first coat of paint.

The easily cleanable white paneling has been installed in all of the kitchen, processing, and packing areas.

The hoods for the kitchen equipment have been installed. Equipment should begin to arrive by November 7th.

The area for the walk-in cooler and freezer has been prepped. The units are expected to arrive and be installed next week. You can also see a small portion of the storage area in the background, too.

So much is going on. In addition to kitchen construction, we are preparing our downtown retail location for our Local Oven bakery. Two construction projects while launching two businesses is enough to make your head spin…or, at least, make it hard to find time to update a blog regularly.

From the article:

“The Sharing Spaces Kitchen will be a local food hub,” said Moris. “It’s a place that will help create local food businesses and expand the market for food produced, processed, distributed, sold, and consumed locally. This will be a strong vehicle for local economic development.”

You may be able to read the article on the Courier Press’ website by clicking here.  If it is no longer available online, you can continue reading below.

Here’s the full article:

Construction on the new Opportunity Center kitchen is proceeding nicely and is nearing completion. Kitchen Manager Dan Moris said that the 7,000-square-foot facility will hopefully be completed by Thanksgiving and up and running shortly thereafter.

The kitchen, called the Sharing Spaces Kitchen, will have two separate processing areas, said Moris. One processing area will be geared toward bakery items and the other will be geared for a general purpose kitchen and canning.

The building will also include a clean packing room and a large amount of cold, frozen and dry storage space. The dry storage space is about 1,200 square feet and the cooler and freezer are each about 500 square feet. In addition, there will be two truck loading docks and a classroom.

The building will be a shared-use commercial kitchen, which can house multiple businesses within the same facility, said Moris, who noted that the Sharing Spaces Kitchen will offer start-up services for food entrepreneurs. Moris said that the Opportunity Center will rent space and time in the kitchen so that entrepreneurs can produce, market and sell their products on a larger scale.

“We would like to help these businesses start, grow and eventually graduate out of the facility,” said Moris, who noted that the Opportunity Center staff can help the business create a business plan, and also help the business produce “value-added” products such as sauces or juices from their fruits or vegetables. He said that there will be an emphasis on local food grown on small farms in Southwest Wisconsin and Northeast Iowa.

“We can help to open up new markets,” said Moris, in explaining that the Opportunity Center staff can help the business to obtain distributors. “We also have the staff who can do packing or make the product for the business. We can do it in the way that you want us to do it. This set-up will work well for many people.”

Moris has been getting calls from people in Southwest Wisconsin and Northeast Iowa who are interested in using the kitchen for their catering service or to create a product. In fact, he has been working with a Prairie du Chien woman who will be the first client of the kitchen. Moris said that the woman will be making a line of sauces including hot fudge, peanut butter hot fudge, caramel, and butterscotch. Moris and other Opportunity Center staff members have been helping the woman to create a business plan, to launch a website and to get state approval for her recipes.

“The Sharing Spaces Kitchen will be a local food hub,” said Moris. “It’s a place that will help create local food businesses and expand the market for food produced, processed, distributed, sold, and consumed locally. This will be a strong vehicle for local economic development.”

In addition to making their facility available to start-up businesses, there will also be courses taught in the classroom. Moris said that there will be cooking classes, as well as classes for small farmers, entrepreneurs and business persons. College certificate courses will also be available.

Moris said that he is updating the progress of the kitchen on a blog. The website is kitchen.pdcopportunitycenter.org.

Construction of the Sharing Spaces Kitchen began in June. The general contractor is Olympic Builders of Holmen. Tom Steiner of Steiner Associates Building Contractors of Prairie du Chien was the architect.

The kitchen will cost approximately $850,000, but the Opportunity Center has received grants and many donations. Grants include $300,000 from the Wisconsin Department of Commerce and $100,000 from the United States Department of Agriculture. Also received was $100,000 in Tax Incremental Finance funds from the city of Prairie du Chien. A Wisconsin Department of Agriculture grant of $32,500 will go towards operation of the facility. The Wisconsin Knights of Columbus donated $6,300. Individual donations have totaled $4,000 so far. Scenic Rivers donated $1,000 and Pete’s Hamburger Stand donated $2,630.

With the Sharing Spaces Kitchen slated to be open shortly after Thanksgiving, prospective business persons may want to give Moris a call. His phone number is 608-326-6486 ext. 131.

Next up, interior work with the walls and utilities. We’re purchasing our major food equipment this month, too. It’s so great to see tangible progress!