Construction of new Catholic ministries food pantry underway

The construction of a new Catholic Social Ministries Food Pantry is underway, with the building's foundation being laid and steel beams going up.

Jim Keusenkothen, pastoral minister at St. Mary Cathedral, said the construction of the building, depending on the weather, is estimated to be finished in the fall.

"The last estimate that I heard was around October. Of course, everything's kind of dependent on the weather, but it's moving along better," he said.

Keusenkothen said the timing of getting the materials and them being laid have gone "pretty smooth."

The construction of the new building came about because the ministry "outgrew" its current one. The site of the new facility is directly behind the current spot at 134 S. Sprigg St. in Cape Girardeau, which will be bulldozed after construction and the move is finished.

Keusenkothen has been with St. Mary Cathedral — which is just south of the food pantry, across William Street — for 10 years and said that even before he was there, there "was talk of the need for a new building."

The new building will be around 6,000 square feet, giving the food pantry more capabilities the organization didn't have before.

"[The building] will have a walk-in cooler, a walk-in freezer inside, and we'll have a loading dock, which is going to be huge for us," Keusenkothen said. "They will allow us more opportunities to acquire food in bulk where a lot of times now we just can't do that because we don't have the space."

Keusenkothen said one of the things he's looking forward to about the new building is just the better access to help people.

"The mission is to help people, we're putting our faith in as Christians in action. To boil it down, I guess we'll be able to do that better," Keusenkothen said.