Our New Location
The biggest plot line of Our Next Chapter is our upcoming move this fall to the former Waunakee library building: Waunakee Neighborhood Connection signed a 15-year lease with the Village of Waunakee to occupy the upper level of the old library, located at 710 South Street near the high school. We will share the building with the Waunakee Food Pantry which creates an exciting opportunity to collaborate and better meet our clients’ needs.
To combine our Community Store and other services with the resources the Waunakee Food Pantry provides so that families and individuals can pick up what they need at one place, increases accessibility. We know some of our clients don’t have reliable transportation, and some are living with disabilities, so this one-stop shop will make a difference. It will also be easier to refer clients between both organizations and provide more well-rounded assistance for our neighbors in need. The hoteling space will make it easier for us to host staff from partner agencies, many of which are located in Madison, to meet with clients onsite in Waunakee making their services more accessible, as well. We are also hoping to take advantage of the proximity to the high school as there are plenty of volunteer opportunities students can get involved in!
Floor Plan
The new space is nearly the same amount of square footage that we occupy today when you count the main level and basement level that we use. The nice change is that our new area will be all on one floor – no more going up and down stairs to bring things to and from storage!
Lobby
Upon entering the purple door that will serve as the main entrance, a modern welcome desk area will greet visitors where we will have our iconic picture mural showcased behind it. The mural highlights all of the people and activities that comprised the capital campaign that resulted in us getting our current building. The Welcome Desk itself will be similar in design to the one you see pictured here, and we will be incorporating the beautiful metal work that was made lovingly for our lobby counter by Bob Ziegler when we moved into our current building nine years ago. There will even be an after-hours drop-off area for donations which is something we haven’t been able to accommodate before!
Wall
To the side of the Welcome Desk will be a corridor leading back to the meeting rooms and staff offices. In this area, the highlight will be the donor wall that is currently in our lobby which recognizes those who gave to the original capital campaign that made our current building possible. It is important to us to bring along these pieces of our history to the new space.
Store
The store will be an open concept space with racks, shelving, a fitting room, and a seating area, which was a great suggestion from our clients. We took inspiration from stores like those you see here that are bright and clean, and incorporate warmth through wood tones and pops of color.
A special feature in the store space will be the beautiful wood-topped table that features our logo in the metalwork frame that was made for us several years ago by Rich Endres and his colleagues at Endres Manufacturing.
Sorting Room
Our sorting and storage area will include plenty of tables, shelving, and storage bins for efficiently sorting and storing donated items for the store. It will be just off the lobby so that donations can be dropped off there rather than sitting out in the lobby as they do now. The close proximity to the store floor – and being on the same level – will make it much easier to move new merchandise out to the shopping area.
We are also very excited to be adding a space with a stacked washer and dryer so that we can launder donated items onsite, if needed.
Offices
The rear third of the building will feature office space for the staff, hoteling cubicle space for volunteers working on projects or guest agencies that may be partnering with us to provide services and programs, a staff and family conference room with a kitchenette, a flexible multi-purpose room for meetings and special events, along with the restrooms.
Colors
The overall design will feature neutral, earthy tones with pops of Waunakee purple! Millwork and cabinets will be a warm, darker wood tone. The finishes shown in the upper left will be in the sales floor, offices, and public areas while those on the lower right will be in the corridors and restrooms.