Coralville food pantry eying temporary lease at old post office

CORALVILLE - Officials with the Coralville Ecumenical Food Pantry are hoping to take advantage of the city's former post office building and create a temporary new space to serve residents in need of food assistance.

John Boller, executive director of Coralville Ecumenical Food Pantry, said discussions began this summer on finding a larger location for the food pantry, which currently operates out of a donated space at New Life Community Church at 203 First St. The pantry has been in the church space since it was founded in 2009.

'Our current facility has been pretty inadequate for the scale of distribution we've been doing, it's been growing and growing every year,” Boller said. 'We're definitely ready to move to a bigger space.”

The pantry served 2,400 people in the last 12 months and averages 290 families served every month, Boller added.

A longtime supporter of the pantry, Council member Jill Dodds approached Boller after the city purchased the former post office space at 420 Tenth Ave.

With the post office building sitting vacant since last year, when United States Post Office facilities relocated to 2150 James St. Dodds saw an opportunity for the city-owned structure.

'For the time being, we're not doing anything with the building so we can allow the pantry to use that. That will buy them some time to formulate a plan for a more permanent location,” she said.

On Tuesday, the Coralville City Council is scheduled to set a public hearing - which would take place Dec. 8 - on a temporary lease with the pantry.

A draft of the lease indicates that the city would allow the pantry to operate in the space rent-free for up to three years, with the pantry responsible for utilities and the cost of any renovations to the space.

The lease also notes that, with a roundabout planned for the intersection of 10th Avenue and Fifth Street and the city embarking on development in that area, the pantry's use of the space will be temporary.

Boller said he doesn't anticipate any major renovations for the space, which will house food storage, a pantry shopping area and a few offices.

The end goal is to find a permanent space, Boller said, adding that the post office space is in a great, centrally-located spot with proximity to transit lines and other amenities.

'The next step in our mind is figuring out where we can go after,” he said. 'It would be really ideal to find a permanent location that is fairly close by.”

The food pantry provides food assistance on Tuesdays from 2-6 p.m., Thursdays from 10 a.m. - Noon and Saturdays from 10:30 a.m.-1 p.m.