New Kitchen Will Be Integral Part of Lutheran Home at Kane $5.3 Million Expansion

The Kane Republican – Kane, Pennsylvania – As part of the $5.3 million renovation and expansion of The Lutheran Home at Kane, one of the most crucial portions of the plan is for the addition of a brand new kitchen and café to its facility.

According to Charlotte Floravit, Lutheran Home at Kane CEO, the current kitchen is nearly 45 years old and was not built to service the amount of meals it does on a daily basis.  The current kitchen has a layout which lacks efficiencies.

The renovation plans include adding induction cooking appliances, which will not only save on natural gas consumption, but will also add a layer of safety from injuries such as burns.  Induction cooking is a method of cooking utilizing copper coil under the cooking surface to generate electromagnetic energy.  This energy transfers to induction-compatible cookware making it hot enough to cook food.  Induction cooking is fast and energy efficient.

“Building a new kitchen is important to ensure our employees have an efficient and comfortable work environment.  Our current kitchen was built in 1980 with no heat source.  It gets quite cold during the winter months,” Floravit said.  “Our dietary employees are providing an essential service to our residents each and every day.  Serving delicious meals is a top priority for us.  We are blessed to have the support of local foundations and the community to make sure our vision becomes a reality with our $5.3 million expansion project.”

Dietary Director, Danielle Goetz, added that a new, more up-to-date kitchen will not only be more functional, but also safer.

“The new kitchen is designed to be efficient, both physically and environmentally.  State-of-the-art energy efficient equipment will provide a safer and healthier environment for our staff by cutting out fumes and cutting back on the noise and hazards you find in a traditional kitchen.  The kitchen layout has been meticulously designed to give our staff the room they need to provide our residents with the very best,” Goetz said.

A café was also added as part of the renovation and expansion project.  It will be added as a place for residents, employees, and visitors to go for snacks, light meal selections, and to socialize with family and friends.

The addition of the kitchen and café are two pieces of the larger project.  The Lutheran Home is constructing a 10,700 square foot addition which will also include a new, secure, all private resident room Alzheimer’s/Dementia Unit, a chapel, 8 private rooms for short term rehabilitation, and additional office and storage space.  The project will begin by the year’s end.

The Lutheran Home at Kane is also on the forefront of energy conservation.  The facility transitioned all of its lights over to LED bulbs a few years ago.  They continue to work with West Penn Power Sustainable Energy to be a pioneer in energy efficiencies for other senior living communities.

The Lutheran Home at Kane recently announced they have received a $100,000 grant from the West Penn Power Sustainable Energy Fund (WPPSEF) which will be utilized to co-fund the design and installation of a cloud-based centralized HVAC control system.  This centralized system will reduce electric use and improve the building comfort for its residents and staff.

In addition, the monies from the grant will be utilized to retrain Envinity to provide technical clean energy guidance for the planned expansion.

Floravit said monies from this grant will allow the facility to become much more energy efficient as the facility uses a great deal of energy each day.

“As a 24/7 facility, our energy consumption is very large.  We want to be a pioneer for all senior living facilities for energy efficiency and lead the way for reducing our carbon foot print while saving our financial resources,” Floravit said.  “I can’t thank the West Penn Power Sustainable Energy Fund enough for believing in The Lutheran Home at Kane and providing us with this valuable grant,”

For more information on The Lutheran Home at Kane’s renovation and expansion project, call 814-837-6706 or visit www.lutheranhomekane.org.

Editor’s Note: For the next several Saturday editions of The Kane Republican, we will bring you more information and details on each phase of The Lutheran Home at Kane’s renovation and expansion project.