If community members do not already know about the Poplar Bluff Technical Career Center, the secret will be out soon.

Around 75 district patrons and project officials attended the ribbon cutting ceremony for the Culinary Arts Center led by the Poplar Bluff Chamber of Commerce on Thursday, Oct. 3, at the TCC campus located behind the High School on Oak Grove Road.

The state-of-the-art facility, slated to serve as the new home of the popular Mules Café after concluding its 46-year run in the Administrative Building, was financed with $1.3 million in grant money, or two-thirds of the project funded externally.

“The combination of the state-of-the-art kitchen equipment will provide for industry-level training, emulate a functional restaurant and result in more employable graduates,” stated TCC Director Dr. Leigh Ann Cornman during the event. She credited her predecessor Charles Kinsey, now R-I assistant superintendent of business, for his “vision” and “leadership” throughout the construction process.

A $513,000 grant was awarded through the Area Career Center Construction fund bill one year ago, only a few months into Cornman’s directorship. The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education previously awarded a $267,000 ACCC grant toward the project in May 2022.

Dr. Roger Barnes, DESE career and technical education coordinator, thanked Gov. Mike Parsons and the Missouri Legislature for supporting CTE through the grant initiative. During the 2022/23 school year, Missouri had over 186,000 high schoolers enroll in one or more CTE programs in the state’s 57 area career centers, not counting adult and postsecondary students, he noted.

“Missouri Career and Technical Education programs are alive and strong, and CTE enrollment is growing more each year,” Barnes said. “…Given there are approximately 60,000 students statewide in each grade level, that is more than three-quarters of high school students enrolled in CTE, receiving training for Missouri’s workforce.”

In July 2022, the Ozark Foothills Regional Planning and Butler County commissions partnered with the TCC to secure a $500,000 Community Development Block Grant from the Missouri Department of Economic Development.

“Graduates of the culinary arts program will add exponentially to the number of technically skilled workers in our area,” said Amber Hornbeck, OFRPC project administrator. “What a tremendous boost for our local economy!”

The final piece of the financial picture went toward commercial kitchen equipment, including an indoor smoker, fryers, flattop grills, range ovens and a pizza oven through $45,000 in Vocational Enhancement grants. All told, the district committed $700,000 in requisite matching funds, including ancillary expenses such as paving the parking lot, ADA accessibility, a security system, fire alarm and ventilation hood, Kinsey previously reported.

“Improved space and temperature makes a huge difference on morale and safety,” said Chef Brandon Moon, culinary arts instructor. “Having a host station will help to not overwhelm the servers, who in turn overwhelm the kitchen. The 20 minutes of class time gained has relieved stress.”

Zoellner Construction broke ground on the 4,640-square-foot facility, including converting the previous 1,400-square-foot conference room into a dining room/classroom, in June of 2023. The Board of Education awarded the Perryville-based contractor the low bid of $1.4 million in the spring of last year.

Dille and Pollard Architecture of Poplar Bluff designed the building to include a foyer with a reception area, additional private dining room, dry storage, a deep freezer, break room, public restrooms and an office overseeing the kitchen, along with the expanded workstation.

“They did it right in terms of the things that you need to think of such as the amount of space to train more kids,” said Tasteful Creations owner Karen Campbell, who was in attendance. “It’s gonna give their kids the confidence, and I think that’s so important. We as an industry can certainly use them.”

The original Mules Café opened at 1110 N. Westwood Boulevard during the 1978/79 school year in a 2,880-square-foot space, which was retrofitted over the summer to serve in part as the district’s new registrar office.

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Cutline: Dr. Roger Barnes, DESE career and technical education coordinator, delivers remarks in front of the new Culinary Arts Center, calling it a “fantastic facility.”