The Cherry Creek School District (CCSD) purchased a $20.8 million industrial facility at 7194 S. Revere Parkway on May 8 to accommodate growing meal numbers and anticipated growth in student food demand.
“The entire [Food and Nutrition Service (FNS)] operation will move to the new facility,” Director of FNS Kim Kilgore said. “Due to the increase in the number of schools over the past 15 years and the 40% increase in meal participation due to Free Meals for All, we have outgrown our facility.”
Alongside the new facility and extra refurbishments, new equipment will be purchased and moved to the new facility. All excess equipment will replace outdated appliances in schools across the district, in hopes of increasing efficiency as demand for free meals and more menu options increase.
“I would be overjoyed if there was an additional amount of food options,” junior Carter Bell said. “Sometimes the single chef’s choice item just isnât enough.”
The district hopes to increase menu options at all education levels, as well as adding more ethnic and cultural foods to meet the needs of student diversity. New recipes will be created, tested, and finalized on the new menu once the organization moves into the new building in 2026.
“It will benefit the students with higher quality products, more freshly baked items, and a larger variety of everything,” Kilgore said.
Since the old building was made almost 20 years ago, there have been more than 20 new schools and 13,000 students added to the district, making space the main problem. The previous facility covered less than 25,000 square feet with no room for expansion, making the environment no longer safe to work in.
By contrast, the new facility covers approximately 100,000 square feet of rentable building area, including four drive-in doors, 32 delivery dock doors and parking, bakery expansion to make more items for the menu, kitchen space to train more than 350 new and existing staff, and a community pantry to shelf stable and perishable items.
“For our staff, it will be a safe environment with plenty of space to operate with much less chance of injury and opportunities for more training, which will support the professional growth of my team,” Kilgore said.
Despite the hefty price tag on the new building, the purchase allows the district to stop sourcing commercially, which is incredibly expensive. They can instead buy ‘truckloads of food’ from vendors at a lower cost, at the same quality, and with increased variety for the students. The money saved can then be directed towards other school programs and activities, like catering programs that will be able to provide staff meals for work days, conferences, and other district events.
“We can take full truck loads of food and can safely store additional products in the event of supply chain disruption,” Chief Financial and Operating Officer Scott Smith said.
