By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
Great Bend USD 428 holds open house for new facility
Support-building-open-house
Rose Duvall with Great Bend USD 428 Food Service, center, leads a tour of the new kitchen portion of the Support Services facility at 625 East 10th St. There was an open house and job fair at the site Wednesday afternoon. Among those attending was Marilyn Deason, shown at the right-hand side of the photo, who worked for Great Bend’s Food Service department for 46 years. - photo by photos by Susan Thacker/Great Bend Tribune

Great Bend USD 428 Transportation Secretary Colleen Newman has been giving tours of the new Support Services facility at 625 East 10th St. ever since her office moved there from the District Education Center. On Wednesday, the district held its official open house and ribbon cutting, as well as a job fair, at the new facility.

In 2021, USD 428 began looking for a site that could house its support services: Food Service, Transportation and Maintenance, going so far as to make an offer on the former Becker Tire location at 904 Washington. That deal fell through, but eventually the district purchased the building at 625 East 10th St. formerly owned by Central Power Systems & Services. Director of Grounds and Transportation Cody Schmidt and Rose Duvall in Food Services were among those leading tours of the 50,000-square-foot facility.

Duvall said the Central Kitchen prepares 715 breakfasts at 2,100 lunches every day. On  Wednesday, there were more lunches because the menu included the popular Crunchy Munchy Chili and cinnamon rolls. 

While there is a lot of new equipment in the re-purposed building, Schmidt pointed out that items such as food preparation tables were moved from the old location to save money. The new facility’s larger work and storage areas are a plus, he noted. “They were very limited as to what they could have on inventory,” he said.

Many of the first people to attend the tours were former USD 428 employees, including Marilyn Deason, who worked in Food Service for 46 years. First she worked at Harrison Junior High. Meals were prepared there and at Great Bend High School and taken to other schools in the district, she said. Later, the Central Kitchen moved into the former Safeway store at 2201 Broadway.

Schmidt said one of the money-saving features in the Transportation Department is a wash bay for vehicles and buses.

The District Education Center at 601 South Patton Road continues to house the administrative offices for now. The next project is remodeling the former CPI facility on 24th Street to house Little Panthers Preschool and the district office.

open-house2
Panther activity buses were parked inside the Maintenance and Transportation area of the Support Services facility. The table was set up for refreshments and people could also sign up for job openings at the school district.