RUMFORD – The Shared Use Kitchen Committee will review a draft plan on Tuesday that could lead to a shared kitchen and culinary arts program at the Region 9 School of Applied Technology.

The proposal must undergo review as well as a commitment to fundraising.

Region 9 director Brenda Gammon said whatever occurs, the board must approve it.

“If it’s what the area and board want, it may be a means to an end,” she said of the desire for a culinary arts program at the school.

Prior to the vocational school’s recent building project, surveys of students and businesses found support for a culinary arts program. However, costs to build a commercial kitchen were prohibitive.

At about the same time, a local Agricultural Commission was formed with the aim of capitalizing on the agricultural history and its potential economic impact. One of the commission goals is to establish a shared use kitchen where small businesses could produce baked and processed foods. A shared use kitchen provides equipment and licensing for such a facility.

Gammon said a shared use kitchen could lead to a culinary arts program, and would give the school and governing board time to think about it.

“A lot more talks need to be done,” she said. “They need to come before the Programs/Personnel Committee with their ideas.”

The group visited a vocational culinary arts program at Region 11 in Norway a couple of weeks ago.

According to the proposal written by Mark Hews, a consultant for the Shared Use Kitchen Committee and member of Threshold to Maine, more than $85,000 would be needed to bring Region 9’s commercial kitchen in line as a shared use kitchen. Nearly $23,000 of that figure could be provided through in-kind work.

The proposal calls for setting up a fundraising committee that would seek money through grants and elsewhere.

Gammon said she’s most interested in how a kitchen would benefit Region 9 students.

The meeting begins at 5 p.m. at the River Valley Technology Center.