Sherwood Park residents can expect a brand new building for the local HodgePodge Lodge.
The community staple, which specializes in helping residents find new ways to reuse materials, has been around since 2017. The center has been so successful that they have outgrown their current building and are now in the process of constructing another.
Erin Wildeboer, the Waste Diversion Program Liaison, explains why the center has so much appeal to those in the community.
“It’s a great place for all those little knick-knacks and small things you didn’t want to throw in the garbage and thought somebody else might have a use for,” said Wildeboer. “It’s worked fantastic and it's a highlight of people’s afternoons to come by and pick out the things that they need.”
“It’s been such a hit that we now need a bigger building.”
The current HodgePodge Lodge isn’t much to write home about. It’s essentially a powerless 15x15 shack that houses whatever people bring to it. Further, they have only been able to keep their current building operational during the warmer months of the year.
Wildeboer says that is about to change with the new building.
“[The new building] will be about 1500 square feet and it will be open year-round,” said Wildeboer. “It will be heated and we will have a little outdoor patio area for the outdoor items.”
The new and improved HodgePodge Lodge will also be much more accessible and convenient to people who come in to explore the items.
“It will be wheelchair accessible and we will have an area where you can do some cable work,” said Wildeboer. “If you need to test something out to see if it works or not we’ll have some plug-ins available.”
At the moment the lodge is set up at a temporary location that will be closing down at the end of September as construction on the new building begins.
The HodgePodge Lodge is expected to reopen in their new building in mid-November.
People interested in volunteering at the HodgePodge Lodge can contact Wildeboer via email at: Erin.Wildeboer@strathcona.ca.