Riverhead’s new mobile concession stand is a state-of-the-art kitchen on wheels, decked out with stainless steel appliances, an awning, air conditioning, heat and – best of all – a price tag that has saved the school district hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“It would have cost over $500,000 to replace the old concession stand,” Nancy Carney, school district superintendent, said today. “This cost under $60,000.”
The ongoing improvements to McKillop Field on Pulaski Street have included new, handicapped-accessible bleachers that run continuously along the home side of the field, with no break in the middle where the old concession stand was previously located.
Instead of replacing the old concession stand with a new building, however, the school district has opted for a mobile, 20-foot-long concession trailer that can offer refreshments at any of the district’s sporting fields or events.
“Well be able to use it at the elementary schools if they’re having fairs of any kind,” Carney said. “We can park it outside the high school when there are events in the auditorium. We’re very excited about it.”
The district has yet to decide where the stand will be parked during football games, but Carney says they are considering adding a concrete area with picnic tables near the field for the mobile stand to park next to.
The mobile concession stand includes two refrigerators, a freezer, a stove and oven, a deep fryer, a triple sink and plenty of cabinets and counter space. Coffee makers and hot chocolate machines are also on the way.
“We’re going to be able to cook French fries, which we’ve never been able to do before,” Carney said.
It is also equipped with propane tanks, a generator and electrical hookups so that it doesn’t need to rely on generated electricity all the time.
School board president Greg Meyer was “instrumental” to getting the district’s concession stand on wheels, Carney said. “He did a lot of the research,” she said. “He even designed the interior.”
The stand was manufactured by Worldwide Trailer Company, a Georgia company that won the school district’s public bid last year. It arrived in Riverhead three weeks ago, where Speedy Sign FX installed the lettering on the stand’s exterior.
The concession stand will make its debut at homecoming next fall at McKillop Field.
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