August 5, 1999 -
Coca-Cola Company Moving
Distribution Center
The Coca-Cola company is
planning to move its distribution center on Marshall Avenue in Mattoon to the Coles
Together Business Park, east of Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center.
Ed Denovellis, Coca-Cola's
operations manager for Mattoon, said the current building at 2120 Marshall
Ave. is getting worn out and is not large enough to handle the company's
distribution in the area.
Denovellis said the
distribution center has been located on Marshall Avenue for at least 20 years.
He said more than 30 people are employed by the distribution center.
Coca-Cola will maintain its
bottling facility On Prairie Avenue in Mattoon after the distribution facility
is moved to the business park Denovellis said.
Denovellis said Coca-Cola is in
the Process of purchasing a 40,000 square-foot pole barn from Agracel
at the business park. The pole barn is located just north of the Building
Block child care center.
"We will do considerable
improvements to (the building) to accommodate our needs," Denovellis
said. "It will allow that particular facility to grow with the
area."
Denovellis said the business
park site is centrally located in Coles County and has nearby access to
Illinois Route 16 and Interstate 57. He said the railroad tracks near the
Marshall Avenue site often delayed Coca-Cola drivers.
Coca-Cola's Coles County
distribution center serves an area that includes towns as far away as
Altamont, Olney, Paris and Tuscola. The Coles County bottling facility serves
an even larger area, Denovellis said.
On Tuesday, the Charleston
City Council approved an ordinance that will enable Coca-Cola to locate
its distribution center at the business park. The
ordinance vacated a 100-by100-foot utility easement for a water tower in the
business park that was located near the prospective site. Coca-Cola indicated
it needed the extra space for an access road and an eventual expansion.
Coles Together reportedly will
help the city of Charleston find a new easement if a water tower is ever
needed to service the area around the business park.
Used with permission from Mid-Illinois
Newspapers
Publishers of the Mattoon Journal Gazette and the Charleston
Times-Courier
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Coles Together
400 Airport Road
Mattoon, Illinois 61938
(217) 258-5627 FAX (217) 235-9492
