ALLEN COUNTY, Ind. (WANE) ---It won’t be the kind of fancy kitchen you see on Food Network or one designed by Martha Stewart, but there will be a new, improved canteen at the Residential Services Center off Cook Road. The work-release center for Allen County offenders houses up to 230 residents who serve their time there instead of in jail or prison. They also eat there – three times a day. Food costs shot up because of inflation, Allen County Community Corrections executive director Kim Churchward, said Thursday at the ACCC advisory board meeting. But she’s not blaming food vendor Fort Wayne Community Schools who had to pass on those costs. To save on future costs and pay more attention to specialized meals, ACCC petitioned the Allen County Commissioners and the Allen County Council for money to renovate the kitchen on premises at the center’s location on Venture Lane off Cook Road. The investment will be just under $700,000, but the county believes it will save around $500,000 a year, according to Michael McAlexander, Allen County Prosecutor and board chair. Work begins next month. The kitchen should be up and running next spring. “Because the current configuration is not a commercial kitchen, we have worked with the commissioners and (Allen County) Council where we’re renovating that kitchen into a commercial kitchen that will enable us to have an RFP and have a vendor come in and provide food services," Churchward said. There won’t be any granite countertops, but it will be better than a microwave.