WEB BLURB: The DC will undergo a thorough interior renovation while Norm’s will see the addition of a coffee counter. The renovations are expected to cost $1 million, President Sherilyn Emberton, Ed.D., said.

By Christian Herrera

The university will spend almost $1 million on major renovations for the Habecker Dining Commons and the dining area in the Huntington Union Building. The renovations will take place this summer and will be completed when students return in the fall, President Sherilyn Emberton, Ed.D., said.

The ground level of the DC will be expanded while the second level will undergo a complete aesthetic renovation, including new carpeting and wallpaper.

“We’ve worked out a way where that when students come in, you don’t have quite as long a line outside,” she said. “The way that it [will] flow allows us to have more stations and an opportunity to move more people through those stations.”

The DC will exhibit a contemporary style so students feel they are eating in a “dining establishment” rather than a “lunch room,” Emberton said.

“That was in setting with our goals of this year because our students have said, overwhelmingly, that dining experience is very important to them,” she said. “It’s where our students sometimes eat three meals a day – some four – and it does not match the standard that we want for our students.”

She said the renovations will improve the menu as well.

The university will also install a coffee counter between Sub Connection and Pandini’s in the HUB. An espresso machine was first installed in 2014 to settle student desires for a full coffee shop on campus.

“The feedback we’ve gotten back from students is the coffee’s okay, but it’s not a real coffee concept,” Emberton said. “So we’re going to try to expand that coffee concept a little bit.”

Emberton first announced the news to faculty and staff in the campus update Jan. 26. Forest Glen Park will undergo $700,000 of renovations beginning May 1, 2015.

View more photos of the renovations here. The Huntingtonian will continue to update the story.