BOSTON, MA — Shawmut Design and Construction, a national construction management firm, announces the completion of its work on Community Servings new 31,000-square-foot Food Campus. The updated facility, located at its longtime home in Jamaica Plain, allows the nonprofit to triple production of nutritious, medically tailored meals, double the capacity for daily volunteers and increase the number of food service job training graduates.
Shawmut, in partnership with architect Jacobs, development adviser QPD, and Bohler Engineering, completed the $25-million renovation and expansion, which includes a three-story addition at its 179 Amory Street complex. The new campus positions the organization to expand its service footprint and begin feeding even more critically and chronically ill individuals and their families across Massachusetts. The agency’s goal is to increase production to 1.5 million meals per year over the next decade, which will alleviate the current waitlist of over 100 potential clients in need.
Community Servings and Shawmut celebrated the opening with a formal ribbon-cutting ceremony. Attendees included Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders, Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh, Community Servings CEO David B. Waters, Shawmut CEO Les Hiscoe and Shawmut Vice President in New England Kevin Sullivan, among other guests.
“It is especially meaningful for our team to partner with Community Servings, an organization that has been making immense impacts throughout the Commonwealth for more than 30 years,” Sullivan said. “We’re proud to continue our dedicated partnership by enhancing their facility that will triple the organization’s impact and further ensure that those living with chronic and critical illness are receiving nutritious, healthy meals.”
The renovation included reconstruction of the existing building to provide additional classrooms, a kitchen extension and storage. The Shawmut team also expanded the facility with a three-story, 17,000-square-foot building that includes a commercial kitchen, administrative space and community areas. The new campus includes more spaces for classrooms and culinary instruction, including a Learning Kitchen that allows for visiting chefs from local restaurants and food service companies to lead hands-on culinary training.
The new space also features a Volunteer Prep Kitchen that allows families with young children and individuals of different abilities to volunteer in meal preparation and packaging. Additionally, the expanded complex features a new Food and Health Policy Center focused on research into how medically tailored meals impact the costs of care in public and private health care models.
“For 30 years, we’ve been focused on bringing nutritious, scratch-made, medically tailored meals to our neighbors in need. With the opening of our new Food Campus, we plan to double and eventually triple the amount of meals we prepare and deliver over the next ten years,” Waters said. “Our goal is to ensure that people across the Commonwealth who are living with critical and chronic illnesses receive the nutritious meals they need to maintain and improve their health.”
Shawmut broke ground in May 2018 and completed work while the organization remained operational on site, eventually relocating administration offices into the three-story addition while the existing kitchen, volunteer meal preparation and food-service training spaces were expanded throughout.
Shawmut Design and Construction Completes $25M Community Servings Food Campus
