Auburn students can expect a wider range of dining options next semester under a new roof on campus.
The Central Dining Hall is a $26 million addition, and it is expected to be completed in April 2021, according to Auburn University Facilities Management.
Once completed, the site will house three levels in total, with two open to students. It will include a Starbucks, a possible convenient store, nine different cuisine stations and three board rooms with glass windows overlooking Jordan-Hare Stadium. The food station selections include a pasta station, a pizza station, salad bar, “comfort food” station and an allergen-free station, just to name a few, in order to create a wide variety of cuisine options available for students.
The dining hall will be next to the stadium parking deck, across the Green Space from the Student Center. Construction of the new dining hall began in spring 2020 after the demolition of Allison Laboratory, which existed in the space where the hall will be located.
The dining hall is approximately 48,000 square feet in a relatively central location on campus.
“We built in three classroom-like areas or reservable spaces that anyone can reserve, and they will overlook the Green Space,” said Willam Walker, assistant director of Campus Dining. “It’ll have this great visual, and it will be open to students for study space, faculty meeting space, tailgating space or whatever.”
A large part of the new dining hall will consist of open seating, including a large outdoor patio on the first floor. Students will be able to sit with friends, grab something to eat or study all while enjoying the beauty and convenience of being on campus.
The idea for a new dining hall came from students. Walker said that according to SGA, this is what students wanted. Every aspect of the new dining hall was chosen with students in mind, from the food options to the type of seating to the open windows that will surround the building on each floor.
“We built most of the [food] stations around flexibility,” Walker said. “So if we needed to adjust or change things, I mean every student wants pizza, every student wants a pasta station so those are kind of just staples every dining hall has to have. The grill area will have a round grill that will give a lot of flexibility [on food offered].”
Everything in the dining hall is versatile — the more time students spend on campus, the more likely they are to do well in school and graduate, according to Walker. To provide more spaces for students to come together and enjoy the community on campus is the goal of many Auburn University decision-makers, Walker said.
“The students have said that they wanted more of a traditional dining style,” Walker said. “The driving force is that we know that a dining hall is a place that builds community, and student success is measured by the amount of time they spend on campus.”
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