By Brian Bohl

University students may have another place to spend time on campus next semester.

In an effort to encourage students to become more actively engaged The student center dining hall will be undergoing close to a $1 million renovation that will add a new lounge area, include more outlets for laptops and provide additional space for meetings. School officials say the project is expected to be ready by September.

The University’s vice president for facilities and operations, Joseph M. Barkwill, said the school is eliminating the 12-person tables that currently are located at the back of the dining hall and will replace them with new furniture on the east end. A glass façade will accompany the renovation, which will also include a new floor and improved sound acoustics for lectures and other events.

“It’s similar to what we have in the library,” Barkwill said. “It’s a place where students can work in study groups, go with their laptops or just hang out between classes. Commuter students can sit down and socialize. The intent is to make the student center a student meeting area.”

Kevin Hom and Andrew Goldman Architects designed the renovation plan for the University, which Barkwill said marks the first large-scale improvements to the dining hall in the past 20 years. The plan allows for smaller groups to meet in the rear dining hall by adding four-to-six person tables and will also include new individual seating areas in the front area.

“It’s like a counter-type of arrangement,” Barkwill said. “It will have more modern features. The chandlers will be replaced by more modern features, more light. The walls will be green and the columns will be like a rust color.”

Additionally, the design for the sidewalls will be fitted with bricks, while the floor will be fitted with new tiles. The ceiling will also be made from metal acoustical material to allow for guest speakers or other public events.

“It will brighten up the area and increase the sound quality,” said Barkwill, who added the plan was approved by President Stuart Rabinowitz. “This has been talked about for most of the school season. We had a couple of different design concepts, but in conversations with students, we realized we needed an area for the students to feel comfortable socializing in.”

Students provided input to the facilities department, wanting an area where three to four people could sit down and meet and work on assignments together.

“What the president really wanted was to do something that was student-focused,” said Barkwill.

The University will be placing the project out for bid at the end of March, with construction scheduled to start after commencement in May. Much of the floor work is expected to take place in June, while the plan department said the furniture should be added in August.

Barkwill added that the bidding process should take close to three weeks, while the ceiling tile will take six weeks to be delivered. The project comes as the school is renovating the University Club and working on a new unispan that will connect the north and south side of campus near the Twin Oaks apartments.

“If we were able to utilize the back of the student center, it would make it more conducive for them [students], Alessandra Sumowicz, the University’s director for design, said. “It will make it an even better place to be.”

More electrical outlets will be added that could be used for laptops, preventing what Barkwill described as the “airport scenario” that currently entails students rearranging the furniture to plug in electronic devices. That idea should go over well with students, although there is some concern that the smaller tables could mean less space overall.

“I do like the idea, just as long as it doesn’t cut down on seating,” Vanessa Setteducato, a junior business management major, said. “Because during dinner hours, it’s hard enough to find a seat in there. But I think it’s good to give us some place else to get together for groups and have a study-food place.”

The dining area in the Student Center will soon undergo its first renovation since the 1980s.