College to build culinary school at old mall site

Wednesday, December 20, 2006
By Federico Martinez
and Dave Alexander
Chronicle Staff Writer

Baker College is adding the "icing on the cake" on a spectacular year of Muskegon downtown redevelopment with the announcement today of a new culinary arts facility at Clay Avenue and Third Street.

The new facility is expected to cost Baker up to $5 million to construct and is tentatively scheduled to open fall 2008, Baker President Rick Amidon said on Tuesday. Ground-breaking is planned for September 2007.

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us and the program," said Amidon. "We're excited to be a part of the downtown energy."

Planned for the parking lot that once served Steketee's in the former Muskegon Mall, Baker will build a two-story, 15,000-square-foot facility that will become the Baker College of Muskegon Center for Culinary Arts. It is a destination that will draw students during the day and customers to the college's restaurant at nights.

Preliminary plans for the downtown facility include a casual fine dining restaurant that will be open to the public, said Amidon. The restaurant will also serve as a "hands-on" classroom where students will sharpen their cooking techniques and table service skills.

A bakery and retail outlet where the public can purchase baked goods and gourmet meals to heat and serve at home will also be housed in the new building, said Amidon. Plans also call for a a special pastry lab, a temperature- and humidity-controlled lab for specialty chocolate and sugar designs, three hot food labs and a state-of-the-art demonstration classroom.

Those plans also include the pursuit of a liquor license, which school officials hope will allow the restaurant to maintain later hours and attract a "night" crowd, said Amidon.

Community leaders and downtown promoters are thrilled with the Baker announcement. A culinary school and restaurant provides a unique downtown anchor that would be sought by communities around the country.

"Fantastic!" said Jim Edmonson, president of Muskegon Area First -- the economic development agency that has been marketing the "city center" site for the Muskegon Downtown Development.

"I think that having the culinary school downtown is huge," he said. "It provides lots of momentum-builders to continue our marketing including: it's simply cool; it's a destination generator; it will create lots of traffic -- by foot and vehicle; and it's an anchor institution."

Baker officials signed the agreement to purchase the half-acre site with the Downtown Development Corp. on Tuesday.

Muskegon Downtown Development is a non-profit consortium of the Community Foundation for Muskegon County, Muskegon Area Chamber of Commerce and the Paul C. Johnson Foundation. Baker and Muskegon Downtown Development came to a quick an amicable agreement on the property, officials said.

"This is an especially exciting development," said Community Foundation President Chris McGuigan, a spokeswoman for Muskegon Downtown Development. "We will have the student activities in the building during the day plus the effect of a retailer at night with the restaurant outlet. This is a marvelous initial development for the new downtown."

The Baker announcement comes on the heels of several dozen downtown developments in 2006 from the "city center" former mall property to Edison Landing and the city of Muskegon's Terrace Street lots. The 2006 developments include the reconstruction of Western Avenue from Third to Terrace streets -- Muskegon's main commercial street missing since the mall was built in the early 1970s.

Baker is completing the development of the two blocks of Third Street on either side of Western Avenue, which also will include the Muskegon Area Chamber of Commerce's office-retail building, Muskegon County plans for a 200-space parking structure and bus depot and the Sidock Group's offices and retail building.

It also gives Baker its first a downtown presence since 1997 when the former Muskegon Business College relocated to a sprawling unused state facility at Quarterline Road and Marquette Avenue.

Baker has grown by leaps and bounds since the move. One of its most popular programs has been the culinary arts, which was introduced right after the move.

During the first years, student enrollment in the program surged from 25 students to 150 students. Currently, there are 267 students enrolled in the program, according to school records.

"It's such a popular field now," said Amidon. "Quite frankly, we've outgrown the current facility with 200 -plus students."

School officials plan to use the current culinary arts facilities for more office space, once the programs operations are relocated downtown, said Amidon.

Much of the program's early success has been credited to the vision and passion of its original director Warren Husid. The world-renowned chef, who designed the program, was killed in a traffic accident in 2002.

Husid was instrumental in the opening of the school's Marquette Room, a fine-dining restaurant that also served as a hands-on chefs-in-training classroom for students. Three weeks prior to this death, Husid proudly opened the doors to the on-campus bakery.

The culinary program has continued to thrive under the direction of Chef Robb White, who is now the chairman of culinary arts department, and Chef Luis Amado, the program's lead pastry instructor.

School officials anticipate student enrollment in the program to grow by 10 percent for the first several years after the new facility is open, said Amidon.

© 2006 Muskegon Chronicle. Used with permission