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New McPherson venue to recycle items from site making way for museumOct 08, 2011 (The Hutchinson News - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- In coming months McPherson residents will see the former Cedars Nursing Home demolished to make way for a new, state-of-the-art McPherson Museum. Although the building will be destroyed, much of its contents will be removed and recycled, both by Hutchinson-based Thane Enterprises, which is doing the demolition, as well as a newly-formed McPherson venture called the ReUse It Center. An effort by the First Mennonite Church, the nonprofit ReUse It Center was formed with the help of an Eli Lily grant.. The center, which is set to open on Nov. 1, is located at 1060 W. Kansas Ave. and will sell new and used building materials, including some reclaimed from the Cedars Nursing Home. "This originally was a dream of one of our members who had a construction business for years," said First Mennonite Church Rev. Kathy Neufeld Dunn. "He got to see this from the builder's side and said, 'We always buy extra supplies and they end up in the dump. There has to be a way that others can use them.'" So we dreamed together and got some seed money and this is where we are today." Dunn said while the center is doing some reclamation work at the nursing home, its business model depends on builders, contractors and citizens donating extra supplies from their own renovation projects. Proceeds from the sale of recycled building supplies will be split evenly between local ministries that serve those in need and the Mennonite Central Committee, the Mennonite Church's global relief and development arm. "None of the proceeds come back to First Mennonite Church," Dunn said. "We want to serve those who have needs locally and globally." Some of the items the ReUse It Center removed from the nursing home included hand rails, doors and cabinetry. For more information on how to donate or purchase materials from the center, call the church office at (620) 241-4040. ___ (c)2011 The Hutchinson News (Hutchinson, Kan.) Visit The Hutchinson News (Hutchinson, Kan.) at www.hutchnews.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |