Seward Co-op Project Updates
Friendship Store
Progress on constructing the new Friendship store was delayed in November and December due to rerouting and reconnecting existing power and communication cables, but the remaining demo of the old church building and the removal of the north-south section of the vacated alley was completed in late December.
In January, the construction crew excavated and framed, then poured, cured and back-filled the new concrete foundation for the building — all in the coldest month of the year. A round of applause for our construction team, please.
The erection of the steel framing has recently started (see picture by reporter Ben Garvin on Facebook page), and the building of the new store is beginning to take shape. When this is completed, the exterior framing and sheathing will go up, along with the roof. We’re still on track for the new store to be LEED-certified.
We remain hopeful the Seward Co-op Friendship store will be ready to open in October, 2015.
Creamery Building
We’ve seen a lot of activity in the Creamery Building. The new elevator addition was completed in late December, and the second-floor offices were finished in January. Administrative staff have all moved into the second floor, which has already begun to alleviate space issues in the Franklin store.
As of Feb. 1, our focus will be entirely on the first floor, which will feature a café called the Co-op Creamery Neighborhood Café and a central food-production facility. The facility will supply the Franklin and Friendship stores with meat, bakery, and deli products, freeing up space and workloads on the two retail sites.
The new logos for the Co-op Creamery Neighborhood Café have been finalized (above). The logo was designed to capture, embody, and carry forward the spirit of solidarity and cooperation that brought about the founding of the original Franklin Cooperative Creamery back in 1912. The café menu will be developed on a farm-to-table theme, featuring seasonal and P6 ingredients.
More exciting details to come in the April issue of Sprout!
Seward Co-op Creamery Building on Franklin & 26th Avenue