Medical Lake Food Bank will continue seeking a new facility

While current space is cramped, food bank association says moving into empty Denny's building downtown would be cost prohibitive

By RYAN LANCASTER

Staff Reporter

The Medical Lake Food Bank/Care and Share Association has decided to keep looking for a larger, more accessible home after considering purchase of a building at Broad and Grace streets that once housed Denny's Harvest Foods.

Earlier this month association president Bob Kibling toured the building, which has been vacant since 2004. Kibling was joined on the tour by the building's owner, Harlan Douglass, along with food bank director Peg James, the city building inspector, city code enforcement officer and others.

Kibling had hoped to talk Douglass into selling the 9,000 square foot space cheap so that the food bank could move out of its current cramped quarters at the Dora Burt Center, 211 N. Lefevre St. Kibling said he scratched that plan after seeing the building's severe disrepair firsthand.

“It was suggested to me that unless we got it donated it's not even worth it,” Kibling said, running through a list of issues with the building that include shattered floor tile, a water-damaged ceiling and a worn-out roof he estimates could cost as much as $20,000 to replace. “I like the space a lot and I can see good things there, but it would take a lot of money.”

Kibling asked if Douglass might be willing to donate the building but the owner declined, saying the first mortgage has not been paid off yet. After some discussion in their Jan. 10 board meeting, Food Bank/Care and Share Association members decided to turn down Douglass' counter-offer of free rent for five years, determining that repairs would be cost prohibitive as well as a waste of money on a building that could be taken back at any time thereafter.

Last week Douglass said he plans to raze the building in order to do away with $300,000 in annual property taxes, although he was not sure when that demolition might take place. He said taxes on the land alone are $100,000 a year.

Meanwhile Kibling said he'll continue searching out a new home for the increasingly crowded Food Bank, which serves dozens of local families each month.

“I'm still working on this venture, just trying to find someplace we can go where it will be more handicapped accessible and maybe have some more space,” Kibling said.

The food bank currently shares the Dora Burt building with the Community Outreach Center, which offers monetary assistance with power shutoff notices or evictions, and Care and Share, a low-cost second hand store that supports community outreach programs and, according to volunteers, is busier than ever.

Ryan Lancaster can be reached at [email protected].