The Fire Hub opens - Battle Creek, MI - News Article Locations on Waymarking.com

News article text:
A restaurant with a purpose opened Wednesday in a 113-year-old fire house.

The Fire Hub, 175 Kendall St. at the intersection of Dickman Road, marked a grand opening with a tribal drum song, speeches and a tour for Michigan's governor, other dignitaries and the public.

The Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi, which owns FireKeepers Casino and Hotel, made a multimillion-dollar investment to refurbish the city's former Fire Station No. 4 to create a restaurant and food pantry.

The tribe said 80 percent of profits will go to local charities and 20 percent to maintain the project. Officials said gardens on nearby tribal land will provide vegetables for a free salad bar for students in downtown schools in Battle Creek.

The restaurant will be open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays with a menu featuring breakfast items, sandwiches, pizza, soups and desserts.

"We love the region and we invest in the region," said Tribal Chairman Jamie Stuck. "We wanted to preserve a fire house and open a restaurant and food pantry. We hope to show how to make an impact in the local community."

Gov. Rick Snyder, a Battle Creek native, said he is pleased the building, which was a station between 1904 and 1983, will have a new use.

"I remember it as a fire station and to see the comeback is truly exciting," Snyder said. "The tribe is to be thanked for this wonderful contribution."

He also noted that Battle Creek has recently lost many retailers, including restaurants, so the investment by the tribe creates some excitement.

"This is the kind of place that can renew that faith and hope and excitement to say there are better days ahead and exciting things to be done," Snyder said. "This is a great place and a place of hope and excitement."

Battle Creek Mayor Dave Walters said he was a messenger for the other eight members of the city commission and 53,000 people in the greater Battle Creek area.

"I bring my heart and 53,000 hearts and the hearts of the other eight commissioners and we want to share our hearts with you and thank you from our hearts to yours," he told Stuck. "This is an investment by people who want to give and to people who need some help and I am so proud."

Patty Parker, director of the Food Bank of South Central Michigan, which is working with the tribe, said the food pantry is a way to help many people, especially children, who are hungry.

"We are overwhelmed with their generosity and I am completely humbled," Parker said.

The project was first proposed by Michael McFarlen, vice president of food and beverage for FireKeepers. He said it fulfills the philosophy of the tribe to give back to the community.

A group of coworkers from Crowe's Custom Cycle were the first official lunch customers at the restaurant, and the four men ordered sandwiches including the Hub Club and the turkey sandwich. Later, the employees gave the group a free pizza for the honor of being first.

Andy Litchard said they'd just heard about the Fire Hub and wanted to check it out. They work in the area and the old fire station was a place they'd driven past many times. Now, they sat at a table in the building under lots of light pouring in from huge windows where fire engines once sped out through bay doors.

The group agreed that area of town, and Battle Creek in general, needs more food options.

"I like it, I really do," Gage Weston said. "It’s something different really than the normal KFC, McDonald’s. The sandwiches are kind of fancy and they’re good."

The sandwich menu options run $8-$10; there's also a breakfast menu and a selection of salads, along with wood-fired oven pizzas.

Most of the pizzas feature ingredients and toppings that aren't found in a lot of pizzerias but still work. The Redline pizza, for example, boasts arugula, scallions and chimichurri — a sauce often used as a meat marinade — among other toppings.

Those ingredients combine with the cherry tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella and chipotle mayonnaise to create a tangy, almost-sweet flavor.

Another diner, Andrew Collins, said he was happy to have something new in the area while drinking an agave vanilla cream soda from Stubborn Soda.

"If there’s a new restaurant around, I’ll try it," Collins said.

Type of publication: Internet Only When was the article reported?: 04/19/2017 Publication: Battle Creek Enquirer Article Url: [Web Link] Is Registration Required?: no How widespread was the article reported?: local News Category: Business/Finance

Visit Instructions:
Give the date of your visit at the news location along with a description of what you learned or experienced.

Recent Visits/Logs:

There are no logs for this waymark yet.