Food bank gets relocation extension

F.O.R. has 2 months to find new home

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F.O.R. Maricopa's current building, a former county jail, is in the path of the overpass, and the organization needs a new home. Photo by Michelle Chance

By Michelle Chance

With construction of the overpass looming, F.O.R. Maricopa food bank Director Wendy Webb said Arizona Department of Transportation has given the organization until early May to vacate its current location on John Wayne Parkway at Garvey Avenue.

ADOT will demolish the building, formerly a Pinal County Sheriff’s Office substation and jail, to make way for the overpass.

Related story: Overpass-caused demolition, relocation becoming reality

This extension comes after ADOT imposed two prior deadlines on the food bank. Webb said the department originally told her the food bank would need to leave by the end of March. Then, Webb said ADOT moved the date up to the end of February, prompting an anxious search for a new location.

“We’ve been frantically looking,” she said.

Although the deadline has been postponed, a new location has still not been found.

Webb said she is considering two temporary locations. The first is across from the court house, and the second is inside the red business barn.

However, neither site appears to be a long-term option. Webb said she will continue to look for a permanent solution as she works with city and county governments to figure out funding options for the food bank.

Webb leases the building from Pinal County and hopes to receive a portion of the money ADOT is paying the county for improvements she put into the building years ago.

The Maricopa Business Barn is one option for a temporary location for the food bank. Photo by Michelle Chance
The Maricopa Business Barn is one option for a temporary location for the food bank. Photo by Michelle Chance

The city is working with Webb to sublet a temporary location to the food bank.

Throughout the experience, Webb said ADOT’s communication and timelines have been inconsistent and problematic.

“Their communication is challenging, but in a case like this it could put us out of business,” she said.

F.O.R. Maricopa serves 100,000 meals a year, including people from surrounding towns whose communities do not have a central food bank.

Webb doesn’t think the other non-profit organizations in Maricopa could handle the 500 to 600 families per week the food bank serves if it was to shutter.

Another temporary option is a lot across from the courthouse. Photo by Michelle Chance
Another temporary option is a lot across from the courthouse. Photo by Michelle Chance

“This would really devastate this town if we were gone, but sometimes that’s what has to happen before it gets real enough for people,” Webb said.

ADOT spokesman Tom Herrmann said the department is “doing everything possible to assist the food bank during this time,” including paying $25,900 toward the cost of moving.


This story appears in the March issue of InMaricopa.