Gengras Student Union’s Café is getting a facelift over the summer. When students come back in the fall, they will find a new and improved eating area, with new choices and a bigger space.
Set to begin construction the Monday after commencement, May 18, the café will be torn down and expanded; taking over the hallway between the servery and the Wilson Conference Center, as well as the storage space by Montague’s Deli.
In addition to the increased size of the café, there will also be four new concepts, one of which will replace Montague’s Deli. Einstein’s Bagels will occupy the separate deli space and students will still be able to use meal equivalencies.
Chris Dupuis, senior project manager for the GSU renovations says Einstein’s Bagels will be another options for students, even when the café service is closed between meal hours.
The other new concepts for the café include Extreme Pita, Bene Pizza and Pasta and Burger Studio, plus an “enhanced variety” salad bar, according to Bridgett Stapleton, resident district manager for ARAMARK on campus. The new concepts will provide vegetarian and vegan choices, along with “an overall nice assortment of options,” said Stapleton.
The $3 million project has been in the works since fall 2008, when the University started the detailed planning and budgeting process. Elkus Manfredi Architects, a Boston-based company, is in charge of the project, with Consigli Construction doing project management. The design aspect of the project has been ongoing since November, with the final go-ahead happening last Thursday, March 26.
The renovations budget comes out of the University’s Operations fund and has been something the school has been working to finalize for the past three years, said Dupuis.
Part of the $3 million being spent on the renovations will go to almost brand new equipment for the café. The project managers looked at all ways to reuse the equipment, but less than 10 percent will stay because of state food health laws. If everything goes smoothly, the café will reopen on August 14, just before the fall semester starts. There will be two weeks of training and trial runs to work out any problems and obstacles before the official start of the semester.
To accommodate any students staying over the summer on campus, Dupuis assures that there will be several options available while GSU is under construction.
Hawk’s Nest and the Dorothy Goodwin Café, located in Mortensen Library, will be open all summer long.
There is also the possibility of the Backstage Café at the Handel Performing Arts Center remaining open over the summer as well.
The University of Hartford Informer
April 2, 2009