VOLUME 20 | ISSUE 27
WEEK OF JANUARY 2, 2025
Olde Town hosts its first Caroling Contest P2
Six groups competed in the inaugural Caroling Contest, as attendees were tasked with judging. Listeners voted for their favorite caroling team in each category. PHOTO COURTESY OF STEPHANIE PAUL.
VOICES: 8 | LIFE: 10 | CALENDAR: 12 | SPORTS: 16
FREE
Community Table provides update on move to new building BY RYLEE DUNN RDUNN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Arvada’s busiest food bank, Community Table, will be moving into new digs in the next few months as the nonprofit prepares to relocate its operations from its longtime home at 8555 W. 57th Ave. to a new facility located at 4600 W. 60th Ave this spring. The City of Arvada purchased the property on 60th for $3 million in early 2024 and will lease the building to Community Table for $100 a year — the same terms the nonprofit pays for the current lease, which is also at a city-owned building. The building is currently being remodeled to the tune of about $1.9 million, which is being raised through a capital campaign organized by Community Table and through donations from the public. The remodel work, which began in October 2024, will allow Community Table to expand its operations — which currently include the food bank, showers, mental health services and other resources for the less fortunate — though the nonprofit is doing all it can to ensure that its services do not impact the surrounding neighborhood, according to Community Table CEO Sandy Martin. “We intend to take this building that was vacant for quite a while and make it a really beautiful, thriving building in the community and impact the neighborhood as little as possible,” Martin said. “Our new waiting room is going to hold the capacity of 55 people, so there won’t be people standing out in line.” Martin said the nonprofit has become aware of concerns of residents regarding the neighborhood impacts of another city project aimed to serve the less fortunate; the former Early College of Arvada building that was purchased by the city with the goal of turning it into a homeless navigation center. While the ECA building — located at 4905 W. 60th — is in the same neighborhood Community Table’s new facility, the projects are not connected, and Martin clarified that the new Community Table building will not provide navigation services, nor will it house the city’s One Small Step program, an idea which had been discussed previously. “I don’t believe One Small Step will be moving over with us,” Martin said. “So no, the homeless court won’t be in our building, but we are going to bring partners in, like we have currently. Things like Jefferson County Human Services to help provide mental health services, and we’re looking at some other medical programs that could come in, like the Adams County Health Department would like to come in and do some work with us.” Residents’ concerns about the ECA building’s use have prompted the city to pause plans to use the site as a navigation center. That building’s future remains unclear at the moment. SEE COMMUNITY, P4
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