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Managing Editor CHICOPEE Jerry Roy, the chair of the board of directors for Lorraine's Soup Kitchen, expressed hope prior to Thursday's groundbreaking of the charity's new facility on Meadow Street that the neighbors who opposed the relocation would be accepting of it now. "We didn't have any options," Roy said. "We would have preferred to have stayed downtown." "They [the neighbors] projected a real dim outlook here," he added. "I hope that's not the case." The food pantry and soup kitchen lost the lease to its Center Street location and, after a search for a new building, accepted an offer from Callaway Golf to construct a new facility on a lot opposite the Callaway plant. At two public meetings, neighbors protested the selection because they believed the space was not large enough to accommodate the cars the food pantry would draw. Mayor Michael Bissonnette, who said he was filling in for a vacationing. Lorraine Houle, the charity's founder, said an artist's rendering of the new building "looks like a home that would fit nicely in this neighborhood." He pledged to make sure the snow was removed from the abutting streets in such as way as to not create any traffic hazards and said the Police department will add patrols for the neighborhood. He added the city is considering installing security cameras and lights at the site as well. Bissonnette expressed his gratitude to Callaway management none of whom were represented at the groundbreaking and said the donation indicated the company's commitment to the city. Contractor Paul LeClerc said construction should start within the next several as with the foundation is dug and poured. The building is expected to be completed in nine months, he said. Roy said a capital campaign for the new building would begin this week. Michael Williams of Chicopee Savings Bank will be the chair. Bissonnette said the project resembles a "barn raising of a sort" because so many companies and contractors have already made donations to help build the new food pantry. Amongst those firms is Reinhardt Associaties of Agawam, which supplied the design of the building free of charge. | ||||||
