ST. MICHAELS — On Monday morning, many community members gathered for the ribbon cutting ceremony for an approximately $4.5 million renovation project to help serve the community of St. Michaels.
The St. Michaels Community Center has been operating for over 30 years and has provided various supports through community pantries, events, senior and adult programs, youth programs and community gardens.
Lori Morris, the center’s board chair, said she is excited to continue serving the community 2,500 meals a week and distributing groceries to neighbors in need.
“The outstanding center staff, both past and current, many of whom are here, not only provided ongoing input to the design and construction process but kept as many of our programs running as possible while we were out of the building,” Morris said.
The approximately 5,700-square-foot building now houses a modern commercial kitchen, two classrooms, a technology center, a gallery and upstairs offices for staff. The main level of the building will serve multiple uses, including cafe seating, a space for speakers or performances and a place where people can pick up items from the center’s community pantry.
The 800-square-foot commercial kitchen will serve the new Culinary Arts & Hospitality Workforce Development Program and the center’s Community Cafe, which serves chef-made meals free of charge to anyone experiencing food insecurity.
The two classrooms on the other side of the gallery will be used primarily for children’s programming but also for adult programs.
A technology center will have desks and computers for different organizations and nonprofits.
During the ribbon cutting ceremony, Morris praised her predecessor Langley Shook, former chair of the board of directors.
Morris said that Shook’s leadership was the foundation of the project. The renovation was his vision, and he and his wife, Karen Shook, threw themselves into the fundraising, representing the committee before the town commissioners and the Historic District Committee.
Shook spoke about the work that many put into the project and thanked everyone involved in making the community center what it is today.
“The programs have been expanded, the staff has been strengthened,” Shook said. “Our fundraising has made this platform possible and successful, and I think our greatest days are yet to come.”
One of the speakers, State Sen. Johnny Mautz (R-Caroline, Dorchester, Talbot, Wicomico), requested that all people who had attended St. Michaels Middle or High School come to stand with him as he presented the St. Michaels Community Center board of directors a citation in recognition for the work that was put into the community project.
“Because we do citations and we do projects, and it’s part of the government doing something, but this is the will of the people,” Mautz said. “This is what the town needed. This is what the town wanted, and by golly, this is what the town was going to get. So it’s a great day for everybody.”
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