Clinic gets help in remodeling effort

Twenty-three local construction-related companies are donating labor and/or materials, for free or at a reduced cost, to the project at 1630 N. Jefferson Ave. Phase I was completed June 19 and Phase II is under way, with an expected completion date in mid-September.

Most of the $300,000 cost of the project is paid for by a three-year grant from the Missouri Foundation for Health. Martee Robinson, The Kitchen’s grant manager for the project, said the project probably would cost about $450,000 without donations and assistance from the companies involved.

The project is intended to meet the growing needs of the facility; Robinson said when the grant was written in 2004, the clinic saw about 200 medical patients a month. Now that number is close to 500, plus 40 to 50 dental patients monthly.

“All of these people are what we would call the working poor,” Robinson said. “They have minimum wage jobs, and they don’t have any insurance, Medicaid or Medicare. These are truly the people in the community who can’t get services elsewhere.”

Ireland & Associates is the architect for the project, and DeWitt & Associates is the general contractor.

Stephanie Ireland, principal architect for Ireland & Associates, said the work her firm is doing – which is donated free of charge – is her way of making Springfield a better place.

“Since we’re a service-oriented firm, we don’t get any tax write-offs,” she said. “It’s really just the right thing to do. We have been involved with the community for many years doing projects, and it was just time to give back.”

See SBJ’s July 24 issue for more on the Kitchen project.