TCC looks to move Mules Cafe, culinary arts program

The Poplar Bluff R-I school district has started the application process for a grant which would move its culinary arts program and Mules Cafe.

The Technical Career Center program and cafe are run out of Central Office on Harper Street, but if approved for the grant, these would join the rest of PBTCC behind the high school.

R-I would work with the Butler County Commission and Ozark Foothills Regional Planning Commission if approved for the Community Development Block Grant, PBTCC Director Charles Kinsey said.

The grant request calls for $500,000, according to board documents. All of it would go to a state-of-the-art culinary arts facility, Kinsey said.

He said PBTCC wants to use students with some programs to help with the construction if the grant is approved. For example, having HVAC students install the system.

The construction would be added onto one of the existing buildings, he explained.

Dr. Scott Dill, superintendent, said while he enjoys having the students at central office, it isn’t what’s most practical for them.

As it is, students who take that program take a bus from PBTCC over to central office for class and back at the end of class. Students from other school districts are bussed to PBTCC first and then switch buses to go to the culinary arts classroom.

Through the project, Dill said, the students would get more up-to-date technology to use and a more modern learning environment.

“It’s an exciting opportunity,” he said.

Along with the grant, Kinsey is working with CARES Act funding in projects at PBTCC.

The school board has approved the use of $449,147 from the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund, which is filled by CARES funding, on three projects at PBTCC.

All three projects, Kinsey said, are designed to improve safety.

The first, for about $59,800, would be an automotive paint booth system.

The second, for about $109,500, is an exhaust stations system for the welding classroom.

The last, for about $59,000, would be a print press system.

“I know these are unique, and they don’t necessarily seem like they’d lock up to the COVID-19 aspects,” Kinsey said.

For instance, he explained, welding students can’t wear a mask while practicing and the stations are less than six feet from each other. Proper ventilation would help reduce the spread of potential germs.

The paint booth system is for the same reason, he added.

Meanwhile, the printer system would help meet PBTCC’s needs if students need to work from home and have connectivity issues.

Kinsey said he expects construction costs of about 10-15% to be paid by the district, but said money in his building budget should be able to cover it.

“We’ll know more once we have these companies under a contract,” he said.