The Latino Chamber of Commerce will have a total interior makeover after it received a grant from Design for A Difference.
Its Gateway facility, 5262 Anton Ave in Fitchburg, is the recipient of the Design for A Difference grant sponsored by Floor360 and NBC News. The grant allows for the Latino Chamber to make much needed renovations in its 15,000 square-foot facility to better serve the Latinx community.
The grant and seeking renovations for the Latino Chamber of Commerce was one of the last efforts of Juan José López prior to his death. The Latino Chamber of Commerce sat on the news for a week to give time for friends and families to mourn.
“We were initially going to send out a press release last week, but we didn’t want to overshadow our efforts and raising funds for his funeral services,” Javier Acevado-Báez said. “Last week was a little hard for us. Between mourning his loss and the excitement of getting the Design for A Difference Floor360 award, but this was one of those projects. One of the last things he went he wanted to follow through on. So this one is for him.”
With its continuous expansion and need to meet increased demands for the community, the renovations will allow for a more conductive space for the Latino Chamber of Commerce to operate. Short term, therenovations will allow for the Latino Chamber of Commerce to meet increased demands, but it has its eyes on long term programs that the changes can provide.
The expansion of programs and commercial kitchen to serve as an incubator, and eventually a restaurant, sits as one of its long-term goals with the renovations.
Renovations will start in the fall with a grand unveiling in October. Renovations will be in the style of home makerover shows where the Latino Chamber of Commerce will vacate its space for two weeks. They will return after the two weeks in October and hold the unveiling open to the public.
Centro Hispano of Dane County received a similar renovation from Design for a Difference in 2017, as did East Madison Community Center in 2018.
