Central Topeka Grocery Oasis is getting the ball rolling on a long-needed neighborhood essential
- CTGO Team
- Apr 7, 2023
- 2 min read
Updated: Mar 17
Topeka is hopefully getting another grocery store soon. That is, if it can get past the planning phase.
The Central Topeka Grocery Oasis group hopes to bring equity and social justice while reducing the cost and effort of procuring food for those often denied those essentials.
These are very lofty and aspirational goals. We hope they are able to be successful and we wish them well. Another grocery store is certainly needed in the area and it’s focus on equity and social justice brings a needed element to the neighborhood.
The Topeka Capital-Journal’s Keishera Lately reports although the Central Topeka Grocery Oasis group last month signed a lease with GraceMed Capitol Health Clinic for one acre north of the clinic at S.W. 12th and Washburn, efforts to launch a grocery store in the neighborhood are still in very preliminary stages.
CTGO chair, Marge Ahrens said the group anticipates hiring a project director within the month, who will help them find a grocer as they will need to build a new building. Ahrens mentioned the group has been looking for a grocer who can help meet their needs for more than five years.
Project leaders aren't sure if an independent or chain grocer will be placed on the newly leased land, but they aim for it to be an environmentally friendly store, with the building powered by geothermal energy.
This will be more than a grocery store, it’s anticipated that this will be a community hub offering postal and banking services to the area for those who don’t have access to a vehicle. We know how important a community hub can be in rural areas, this is no different in an urban setting. A community hub allows people to connect, to get help and resources and stay in touch with the community they live in. Who wouldn’t want something like this to be successful?
Additionally Lately reports the group already was awarded $95,000 from the Topeka Community Foundation for essential startup monies in 2022. Additionally, on Nov. 15, the group received $628,00 in American Recovery Plan Act funds to purchase "sustainable refrigeration equipment" for the building. But more funds will be needed. Fundraising for the new grocery store will be a combination of donations from the community, grants and other sources.
We’re hoping more forward progress can be made on this project, because in the meantime there is a scarcity of resources and certainly an opportunity for change.
