Work on possible Downtown grocery store moves forward

Apr. 20—Contractors are raising the roof on what could become a long-awaited Downtown grocery store.

Four area roofing companies recently donated their efforts to restore the roof of the building at 101 Francis St. that Downtown leaders hope will serve as a new grocery store. Within two days, the roof was completely repaired to keep the building's infrastructure intact.

Restoration Church was hosting a team from Kansas City and one of the visitors worked for a roofing company. He asked Tim Doyle, a pastor at the church and leader of the grocery store project, if there was a group that needed roof repairs as his boss was looking for a building in the Kansas City area to help.

"I tried to play it cool, but I said, 'You know, I might know someone,' and so we had a conversation on the phone," Doyle said. "He expressed interest, that snowballed into a relationship he had with a local roofer here in St. Joseph who knew another roofer in Maryville and before long, we had this beautiful coalition of people that are now stamping around on this roof."

Clay Lessley, owner of Nation's Roofing and Solar in Kansas City, was the man Doyle spoke with. Lessley said after members of his crew connected him to Doyle, speaking with him is what sold him on being a part of the project.

"You can just tell he's a leader, he's got a vision, and honestly, I would rather give to a ministry in this way than just give them money," Lessley said. "It's really an honor, I mean I look around at just the history of St. Joseph. I've also worked in this area and seen some of the need, and so it's just been a win-win for us."

Doyle said the situation is unique because the donation was not for the church but rather for the community. The vision for the grocery store is to benefit the people who live, work and spend time Downtown, as well as address food insecurity in the area.

"It makes me emotional because we have just been wondering how is this going to happen?" Doyle said. "These ancient buildings Downtown, the roof is one of the worst, most vulnerable places not only because of their age but they're the flat roofs which are notorious for maintenance. And when they've not been taken care of for years, in some cases decades, they just become sort of the entry point for the decay process."

About 15 workers came together, completing 10,000 square feet of repairs the first day and about 8,000 feet the next. The crews are being paid by their companies but they are not charging Doyle for their service. The local roofing companies involved want to remain anonymous.

One of the workers had a contact with a supply company in Kansas City and got an estimate for the materials needed for the roof, which came to about $24,000. Another piece of the puzzle fell into place, though, with the supplier having the exact materials required in stock to repair the roof.

"He goes, 'And that's rare because of the supply chain issues these days ... So before the big busy roofing season get started, if the church could take possession of this material, which costs about $24,000, I would be willing to sell it to the church for ($10,000),'" Doyle said. "Not only were we able to locate the material immediately, get it delivered but also to pay less than half price for the materials ... and bonus, he gave us six months to pay ... it's like breadcrumbs on the trail, like you're going in the right direction."

Doyle said this is a major step forward for the grocery store to come together. With the building now secure, continued decay of structure and water infiltration are no longer concerns.

"Not only does it secure the building, but it also, I think, speaks well to other people in the community who could have more confidence now investing in a project that they've seen other contractors, other entities come around the project like, even the ones that don't live here, but see the vision and see the need," Doyle said.

While it may seem slow-moving, the things like infrastructure, including sprinklers, bathrooms and HVAC, are crucial to the public space that Doyle and others involved in bringing the store to reality envision.

"I have a feeling that this is how this project is going to go, it's going to be grassroots, it's not going to be some big wealthy corporation or somebody that comes in and just drops a bunch of money," Doyle said. "I think it's ownership for us who live, love ... want to see our city progress and then we'll all take pride in the end result."

If the group is unable to raise $40,000 in funds to purchase the building by August, it will have to turn it back over to the original owner.

"That is the last thing we want to do. I don't believe that will happen but that is the incentive that if we don't fulfill these obligations. All the progress we've made so far will have gone for not," Doyle said.

A GoFundMe is available for people to make donations to help bring the store to life.

Stef Manchen can be reached at stef.manchen@newspressnow.com.