The Council of Trustees approved the $37-million Campus Dining Master Plan, a financing plan for the project, and the integration of the dining master plan into the Long-Range Campus Facilities Master Plan at its December 15, 2011, quarterly meeting.
The Campus Dining Master Plan includes the construction of two new dining facilities, a food court, and the North Dining Commons; the renovation of Folger Dining Hall; the retiring of Foster Dining Hall; and the demolition of Keith Hall.
The funding resolution the trustees approved authorizes university officials to request assistance in financing the project through the ϳԹ State System of Higher Education, with the debt to be repaid through dining revenues.
The development of the Campus Dining Master Plan by Desmone & Associates Architects and Envision Strategies was approved in 2010 and has included extensive study, focus groups, and surveys of students.
Some of the findings used to develop the Campus Dining Master Plan were as follows:
- An estimated 15 percent growth in campus meal plan participation to 7,000 students
- A need for new venues for students, with a larger menu variety and an “all you care to eat” format
- A need for facilities more convenient to all areas of campus
- High demand for facilities with more intimate dining settings
The new food court will be located along Eleventh Street between Cogswell Hall and the IUP Libraries.
It will offer specialty food items for purchase from vendors representing national or regional restaurants.
Design of this $4.9-million facility will take place in 2012, with construction to be completed in 2013.
The North Dining Commons will be located adjacent to Wallwork Hall in the footprint of what is now Keith Hall. It will have 450 seats and an “all you care to eat” format. This $17.7-million facility also will include a large banquet-meeting room, similar to the Crimson Event Center in Folger Dining Hall.
Design for this facility will take place in 2013 and 2014, with construction to start in 2015.
The North Dining Commons project will begin after the construction of the new humanities building, to be completed in 2014, and the demolition of Keith Hall, which will be replaced by the new humanities building. Keith Hall demolition costs are estimated at $1.9 million. The new humanities building will be between Clark Hall and Sutton Hall along Grant Street.
The $12.1-million renovation of Folger Dining Hall will take place in 2014. The renovation includes construction of an addition and the changing of the facility from a retail site and food court to an “all you care to eat” style dining area. The renovation will include the current Crimson Event Center banquet facility, which will be replaced by a new banquet and meeting space in the new North Dining Commons.
The architects and planners determined that Foster Dining Hall, located at Grant and Eleventh streets and built in 1966, required renovations so extensive that it would not be cost effective to continue operations there. How the land Foster occupies will be used has not yet been determined. Demolition of Foster Hall is tentatively scheduled for 2016.
IUP's Long-Range Campus Facilities Master Plan was approved by the Council of Trustees in December 2010. The twenty-year plan includes two new classroom buildings (the humanities building, scheduled for 2014, and a new science building) and the development of the Campus Dining Master Plan.
Components of the master plan highlighted are (A) the new food court and the new humanities building to the lower right, (B) North Dining Commons, (C) Folger Hall renovation, and (D) new science building.