Regents to expand University Center, dining facilities

Southeast Missouri State University plans to expand the University Center to provide more dining space. Renovation of the existing dining area also will be included in the $1.1 million project.

School officials said construction of a new 300-bed residence hall on Henderson Street prompted the move.

Without the expansion, officials said, there wouldn't be sufficient dining space at the University Center to handle the added students who will be living in the new residence hall beginning next fall.

But some students question the need.

The Board of Regents is expected to approve the project when it meets today. The meeting is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. in Dempster Hall's Glenn Auditorium.

To finance the project, the university administration is asking the regents to approve a 10-year lease-purchase agreement with Chartwells, the company that operates the dining service on campus.

"We have an excellent partnership," said university president Dr. Ken Dobbins.

Expansion plans call for enclosing the patio area on the south side of the third floor of the University Center. "Nobody uses the patio. It's in disrepair right now," said Dobbins.

The new dining area would be in a two-story atrium-like room with a translucent-paneled roof that would let in sunlight. New stairs would be built on the south side of the University Center to provide easy access for the students who will be living in the new residence hall, Dobbins said.

New serving area

The project would include a new serving area that will offer soups, breads, sandwiches, desserts and beverages. That area could be open extended hours, school officials said. The existing dining area would be renovated with new furniture and carpeting. The walls would be repainted.

The new dining area will have room for another 230 people, boosting total seating in the cafeteria to more than 600.

Chartwells serves about 1,200 meals a day to students and staff who dine at the University Center. The number includes commuter students as well as students living in campus residence halls.

When the new residence hall opens next fall, the number of meals served daily is expected to jump by 900 or more, food service officials said.

The expansion is needed, said Chartwells' Julie Bourland.

"If we didn't do that there would be people looking for seats," she said.

Questions raised

But several commuter students from Jackson, Mo., questioned the need as they ate lunch in the lobby of the University Center on Thursday.

"I've never seen it overflow," said Kelly Murray, a junior.

Sophomore Melinda Allred agreed. "I've never see it full," she said.

Allred said students from surrounding residence halls often take the food back to their dorms rather than stay and eat at the UC.

Allred suggested the university look at installing full-service dining in the Scully Building, eliminating the need for students in that area of campus to go to the Towers cafeteria or the University Center to eat.

If the university wants to expand the University Center, it should look at building a bigger campus bookstore, said Allred. The bookstore is crowded into a corner of the first floor of the University Center.

But Allred said expanding the University Center shouldn't be the top priority.

"If they want to spend money, they need to work on parking," said Allred. The campus has too little parking for students, she said.

School officials view it differently. Dobbins said the project is worth it and that Chartwells will share the expense.

Under the 10-year lease-purchase agreement, Southeast would pay $60,000 this year and then $55,000 annually from 2002 through 2010. Chartwells would pay $55,000 a year for 10 years, assuming that it is the successful bidder on a new food service contract once its current contract runs out in five years.

If Chartwells isn't the successful bidder, the new food service contractor would have to pay $550,000 to Chartwells and pay $55,000 a year toward the project for the last five years of the lease-purchase agreement.

Chartwells would be in charge of the construction project and adhere to state bidding and prevailing wage laws, school officials said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123