Commissary kitchen to open at Shelburne’s Fiddle Park later this month

October 16, 2025 · 0 Comments

Written By PAULA BROWN

LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER

The Town of Shelburne is developing a commercial-grade kitchen for community use to help support the growth of local food entrepreneurs and small food processors.

Carol Maitland, economic development officer for the Town of Shelburne, presented Council with a report on the development of the commissary kitchen at Fiddle Park during their meeting on Oct. 6.

“The commissary kitchen is an economic development project that responds to the community demand for commercial kitchen space. This initiative will support the growth of local food entrepreneurs and food processors,” said Maitland.

The project will see the existing 1,400 square foot kitchen at Fiddle Park transformed from an underutilized space into a professional-grade kitchen for local food entrepreneurs to rent. The space will be retrofitted with appliances such as commercial-grade ranges, ovens, dehydrators, and additional equipment.

The commissary kitchen will operate on a rental funding model, with the revenue generated from kitchen rental allocated to helping support ongoing programming, equipment maintenance, and operational costs.

“This approach ensures that facility’s long-term viability while serving the community’s needs,” Maitland said in the report.

While the commissary kitchen’s rental price has not yet been determined, Maitland noted that users will be billed per hour, with a minimum four-hour rental period.

According to the report, the project has received $14,000 in proceeds from the Rotary Club of Shelburne, which were raised at the annual Shelburne EDC and Rotary Golf Tournament. The proceeds will be used to purchase the equipment required to upgrade the kitchen.

Shelburne Mayor Wade Mills asked Maitland if there are other models like the commissary kitchen within the area.

“It isn’t novel. We do have some small community kitchens within Dufferin County… the difference between this particular kitchen is the level of professional-grade appliances that will be there. There is going to be a really big focus on the ovens, which is something that a lot of these kitchens do not currently possess. Professional-grade ovens are actually something that a lot of restaurateurs and food entrepreneurs are looking for,” said Maitland.

Coun. Len Guchardi asked about the possibility of having multiple users of the kitchen if the entire scheduled rental time was not going to be needed.

“It depends on what they’re doing. If we had, say, someone who wanted to use the dehydrators, then it wouldn’t affect all the range. The type of range that’s going to be used could potentially accommodate two people, but ideally, if someone is renting the kitchen, then they would have the use of the full kitchen.”

Development of the commissary kitchen is set to begin later in October, with the grand opening slated for spring 2026.