University officials are in the process of choosing a contractor to complete the massive renovation project planned for Observatory Hill Dining Hall.
O-Hill, the dining hall that serves most first years, is slated to close for almost a year during the renovation. An exact date of closure will not be determined until after the University names a contractor, which should happen this week.
In the original plans for the project, the facility was scheduled to close in September. If the University selects a contractor that can start construction immediately, O-Hill would be closed at the start of the fall semester, said Richard Kovatch, assistant vice president for business operations. "We'll know more as soon as the bid opening occurs," Kovatch said.
Students who normally would go to O-Hill will have to eat either at a temporary dining hall in the Alderman Road residence area or at Newcomb and Runk dining halls.
The temporary dining hall will seat about 400 students -- about 300 less than the permanent facility now does. Dining Services is planning to make several adjustments in other dining halls to accommodate the additional students, Dining Services Director Ed Gutauskas said.
Lunch services will expand at Newcomb Hall, and Dining Services may set up a take-out style food service area under Big White Tent in the Newcomb plaza, Gutauskas said.
For dinner, Dining Services staff has asked Resident Advisors to encourage first years to eat at both Newcomb and Runk. Those dining halls may be a farther walk than the temporary facility, but both will offer more extensive menus. A wide, well-lit walkway is in the works to make Runk more accessible to Alderman Road residents, Gutauskas said.
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Dining Services expects "about a year of construction, and we will do what we can to make that as pain-free as possible," he said.
The renovation, budgeted around $11 million, will involve increasing seating capacity to just over 900, moving the entrance and adding a food-court-style section separate from the contract dining area.
But an updated appearance is not the only goal that prompted the University to initiate the project.
"Really, the facility is at that point in time when a lot of the mechanical systems need to be replaced," Kovatch said. And because so much work was needed on the inside of the structure, "naturally we looked at renovating the entire building."
It is the first renovation of O-Hill since 1984.
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