PERHAM — Changes at Perham's Bongards Creameries Plant are becoming more visible to the eye.

In August 2021, Bongards began construction on a new 70,000-square-foot refrigerated warehouse east of the existing plant. Workers laid down the footings last fall, and now steel work for the frame of the building is underway.

According to Bongards Director of Marketing Evan Carlson, construction is about 10–15% complete.

The steel work will continue for the next few weeks, Carlson said, with the roof and walls gradually added.

Once exterior construction is done, the floor will be poured and refrigeration systems will be added. Following that, warehouse racking systems will be installed.

The project is on track for completion by August 2022, Carlson said.

The plant's previous refrigerated warehouse space will be converted into additional dry storage, while the new warehouse will hold finished goods produced by the plant, including cheese blocks and barrels, according to a previous Bongards news release.

Bongards completed a significant expansion of the plant’s capacity in 2015 but did not expand warehouse capacity at that time.