With 25 days until the lease expires on the Cherry Street location, area social service providers are preparing to accommodate patrons at The Salvation Army a few blocks away starting July 1.
Meanwhile, the search continues for a temporary site for the kitchen because construction at a permanent location could take two years.
The focus is now on two properties: the National Guard Armory on Eastside Street and the Eagles Hall on Fourth Avenue.
"I think next week will really be the week of reckoning for the Armory," said Gary Sandwick, Thurston County family center director of Catholic Community Services.
The idea of using the Armory for a soup kitchen didn't sit well with area residents and board members at the last Olympia School Board meeting.
Representatives from Catholic Community Services, which takes over operation of the soup kitchen July 1, will go to Monday's school board meeting to explain its group, its mission and how they plan to run the soup kitchen, Sandwick told area social services leaders at a Feed the Hungry Partnership meeting Wednesday.
"I can tell you, wherever we're at, we're pretty much going to run a no-nonsense show," he said.
CCS doesn't want to move the kitchen to a location where there's communitywide opposition, Sandwick said.
When asked if CCS would decide against moving to the Armory if the school board opposed it, he said: "I think it depends on how vehement the school board is to it."
The Eagles Hall at 805 Fourth Ave. is large enough only for a soup kitchen and not for a drop-in or advocacy center.
Sandwick said he was approached by an Eagles representative who asked whether the group would be interested in leasing the space.
"It's relatively dingy, relatively dark and it smells, quite frankly," he said. But it has potential and could be cleaned up with paint and carpet shampooing, he said.
Both locations would require a conditional use permit, notification of neighbors and a public hearing before the hearings examiner.
That process takes time, and the lease is up June 30.
The Salvation Army, with the help of churches and social service agencies, has agreed to help provide meals for six months to avoid a disruption in service.
Some renovation to The Salvation Army facility is necessary to make room for a second dining room to hold the extra people, who will be served in shifts.
Salvation Army and CCS officials applied for a $10,000 grant from the Irving A. Lassen Foundation to help cover the extra costs. About $18,000 would be needed in addition to the grant to cover expenses such as staff, moving costs and utilities.
"Whenever an alternative solution is found, we'll be happy," said Maj. Randy Kinnamon of The Salvation Army. "And the money that would have been spent would have been well spent."
"I can tell you, wherever we're at, we're pretty much going to run a no-nonsense show."
-- Gary Sandwick, Thurston County family center director of Catholic Community Services