Baker Food Co-op launches fundraiser to repair aging Broadway building

If the Baker Food Co-op cannot get its aging Broadway building repaired, Baker City could lose one of downtown’s few local food stops and a longtime gathering place at 2008 Broadway St. The cooperative launched a fundraiser to fix the brick exterior after its insurance provider said the work needs to begin soon, turning a building issue into a larger fight to keep a 115-year-old community institution open and usable.

The need is coming at a better financial moment than the co-op has seen in years. Naomi Preston, president of the board, said the organization is celebrating 50 years of serving local residents with fresh food, bulk items and spices, after a rough stretch in which sales fell by nearly $100,000 from 2019 to 2022. That drop had raised real concern among board members about whether the co-op could survive. Instead, shoppers, members and supporters responded to a push to shop at the store, sign up for memberships and volunteer for discounts. Sales rose 10.3% in 2025 and climbed another 14.6% in the first quarter of 2026.

The current effort is tied to a grant application that depends on fast local support. The co-op needs to raise $3,000 in cash to meet a $5,000 match before it can submit the application on May 1. Preston said donations can be mailed directly or made through the co-op’s website. The funds would help pay for brick exterior repairs on the roughly 5,000-square-foot building, which the co-op owns after paying off its loan in 2025.

The project is the latest step in a long run for the business, which began in 1976 as a buying club for bulk foods at wholesale prices. It settled on 10th Street in the early 1980s before moving to Broadway in 2010 after outgrowing its previous space. The co-op has already drawn grant help for the building, including a $15,000 Ash Grove Foundation award in 2024, arranged through the Oregon Trail Preservation Trust, to replace a crumbling sidewalk section on the east side along First Street. That earlier phase was part of a broader plan to preserve original historic elements while improving energy use and accessibility with work such as window repair, exterior repainting and HVAC updates.

The Broadway building remains more than a storefront. It is a member-owned downtown hub that has carried Baker County through changing food habits, a pandemic-era slump and a recovery now showing up in the sales numbers. If this repair campaign succeeds, it could help preserve a small local grocery option today and strengthen the co-op’s chances of winning additional grants later.