Dining Services will finish redecorating and renovating the dining halls during the next few months, with the addition of high-back booths and lounge seating in the exit lobby of The Diner on North Campus.
The department had $25,000 to use for refurbishing each of the dining halls, a process that Director of Dining Services Colleen Wright-Riva called a “refreshening.”
Dining Services spokesman Bart Hipple said the actual amount spent was “significantly” lower than their budget, but the figure does not include the cost of the new soft seating, booths, tables and chairs because they are considered equipment replacement. The money was taken out of Dining Services’ long term remodeling and renovation budget. Hipple declined to give the exact amount spent on the new decorations and seating.
The large, low-cushioned couches, big chairs and footstools will be installed in The Diner’s lobby during winter break, and the custom-designed booth seating, which will be built around the columns in the middle of the dining room, will arrive in late February, Hipple said.
“What it does is it gives a different type of seating and it breaks up the room somewhat, so it’s not such a big, large room,” Hipple said.
Hipple said that ideas for rejuvenating the dining hall’s appearance were generated last year when Wright-Riva first came to the university and said the aesthetics of the dining halls needed improvement.
The art and decorative pieces in the dining halls were installed earlier this semester and were also part of the initiative.
“It gives it a feel not just like a university diner,” said sophomore criminology and criminal justice and psychology major Temima Rothmel while eating dinner in The Diner.
She said the paintings make the dining experience “more homey.”
Hipple said there are still additional, smaller renovations to be done, which include building a permanent cabinet for The Diner’s waffle station and improving the look of the back corner of the South Campus Dining Hall, where the bakery and bagel toaster are located.
Freshman communication major Lauren Knudsen said she liked The Diner’s facelift.
“It’s come a long way,” Knudsen said. “It looks really nice.”
Despite all the renovations, Hipple said the number of seats in The Diner will remain approximately the same, since the room must meet fire code and aisle width requirements. Hipple added there is also a basic rule of thumb that determines how far people should be from each other in the dining rooms in order to feel comfortable.
“We do try and keep as many seats in the rooms as possible, because we want to make sure that as many students as possible can eat in the dining rooms,” Hipple said.
Dining furniture that is being replaced but is still in good shape may be used in the future Northwoods Dining Hall in the Denton Community, as Dining Services does not yet have enough tables and chairs for the location, Hipple said. Furniture that Dining Services has no use for but it still in OK, not great, shape will be sent to Terrapin Trader to be re-sold, Hipple said.
He added that the seating in the South Campus Dining Hall was replaced last spring because the furniture there was more than 20 years old.
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