Staff Writer 

 For Southern Maine Community College (SMCC) Culinary Arts Department Chairman and 2008 American Culinary Federation’s National Chef Educator of the Year Chef Wilfred Beriau, it takes more than brick walls and stainless steel to make a kitchen.

“A building is just a vessel for me,” he said. “I don’t care what the building is like, I’m going to do what I am put there to do.”

After teaching and preparing meals for thousands of wedding receptions and community functions in SMCC’s current culinary arts center for the past 24 years, Beriau’s “vessel” could get a facelift. He said the current building, which was built in 1972, “has sufficed” for him, his students and their guests but it is now “time to make replacements.”

“There were storage issues and some of the systems are out of date,” Dean of Administration Scott Beatey said. “[The current culinary arts building] is well past its serviceable life.”

A preliminary sketch of the proposed 25,000 square foot building including outdoor and second-story dining rooms with views of Casco Bay from Fort Williams to Portland Head Lighthouse was revealed earlier this month, but Beatey said the design could change significantly depending on Beriau’s needs.

“[The new building] is included in our master plan for the entire campus,” SMCC Foundation Executive Director Michelle Hedrich said. “It may take a longer period of time for the fundraising, which would give us more time to consider the design.”

The new building is estimated to cost at least $5 million, a number former speaker of the Maine House of Representatives and SMCC Dean of Institutional Advancement Glen Cummings, who is leading the capital campaign for the project, said could be difficult to hit in the current economic climate.

“We’re going to start with who our friends are,” he said. “There are a lot of businesses in town that understand their employees come from this community college.”

Beriau said he hopes the new facility will include the latest culinary technology, including “combi ovens” that can both steam and roast food, roll-away appliances for easy cleaning access and ovens that cook “efficiently and fast” using electromagnetic energy. New culinary-specific computers and software programs will also be a key ingredient in the design, as aspiring chefs will need to use them to keep track of inventory, Beriau said.

“These are the tools our students will be using in the field,” Hedrich said. “What will really change for them is that instead of running a dining hall of 90, it will be 300.”

The new building may have the latest technology, but Beriau said it is important to remember what it really takes to be a successful chef. He said any student enrolling in the program, which includes a 400 hour externship for completion, “has a great opportunity” regardless of how modern their kitchen may be.

“We have a solid curriculum here,” he said. “The basics will never change, no matter what the technology is. As long as you have students who prepare food with care, technology makes it easier but doesn’t change the fundamentals.”

While it may make fundraising a challenge, Beatey said community colleges typically experience an increase in enrollment during times of economic hardship. He said SMCC had a “record year” last year with an 11 percent enrollment rate increase and they were expecting an 8 percent increase this upcoming year.

“When times are slow, people retrain,” he said. “It’s a good time to retool or get ready for the rebound.”

Beatey said the building, which will be subject to approval by the city’s planning department, is currently unnamed.

“If any millionaire wants to donate, we’ll see what happens,” he said.