A Kitchen Decision!

At our meeting this week, the Building Committee - with the blessing of the Vestry - decided to move forward with the renovation of the Undercroft Kitchen, a project near and dear to the hearts of many at Mount Olive. The intrepid kitchen users at MO turn out great meals, both for the congregation and for the community, but they do so in less than ideal working conditions. We aren't able to afford an expansion of the kitchen or all new appliances. But we will be rearranging things to make better use of the available space. Currently the food prep area shares space with the dishwasher area, which means that "clean" and "dirty" can mix, not a good situation for maintaining food hygiene. You can see the proximity of these two spaces in the picture at the top. So the dishwashing area will be moved to the smaller room off to the side of the kitchen (the room with the small windows), and what is now the dishwashing area will be converted to prep tables and storage space. This should also make for better traffic flow, as dirty dishes can be taken directly to the dishwashing area without having to pass through the kitchen. The freezers and refrigerator that are in the small room will be moved into the larger kitchen, in space vacated by the sink and countertop at the rear of the room.

We expect that work on the kitchen could commence within the next month, and that means that we'll need all of the help we can get to pack up and empty the kitchen, and take down cabinets. Watch for more information about volunteer days in the Olive Branch.