RLI in the News

The Board of Regents approved a schematic design at its meeting Thursday, and the construction of the dining center should be finished in 2008.

While gazing out on Palmer Field through wide glass windows, students will be able to get fresher, tastier food that's made to order, from hearth-oven pizza to stir-fry to deli sandwiches.

On the second floor, students will be able to grab sandwiches to go, coffee and smoothies in a food emporium open during later hours. Even after food service has ended, students may study or hang out in a part of the dining center open all night, taking advantage of wireless Internet access. All told, the 35,000-square-foot dining center will have seats for more than 700 people.

The dining center is just one of several projects in the works at U-M residence halls as the university plays catch-up with its peers and improves the way students live and eat, said Carole Henry, director of housing.

"We need to respond to what today's standards are,'' Henry said.

Also at the regular meeting, regents approved:

• Schematic designs of a $44 million renovation of Mosher-Jordan Hall, a project that will be done in conjunction with the new dining center. Common spaces will be improved, a new type of computer lab will be added, individual thermostats will be installed in students' rooms, and infrastructure will be improved, including the addition of air conditioning. It will be the most significant renovation of a residence hall ever undertaken by U-M.
• Spending $12 million on Bursley Hall on North Campus, improving electrical and fire suppression systems, and adding a food emporium and small grocery that sells pizza, sandwiches and salads. With seating for 100, it will also have a stage and sound system for coffee-house-style performances. Wireless Internet access will be added;
• Spending $3.9 million to update fire detection and alarm systems at Oxford Housing, a former hotel now used to house students.

"We want the student life and the student experience to be vibrant and interconnected in all of its facets,'' said U-M President Mary Sue Coleman, who has made improving residence halls one of her top priorities, saying the experience directly affects how students do academically.

Improving the food can't come soon enough for students who live at Mosher-Jordan.

"It's about time,'' said Jeff Peachman, a freshman from a suburb of Youngstown, Ohio, who rated the food poorly. "I'd give it a two out of 10. I've had worse.''

"It lacks variety,'' said Megan Haubert, another freshmen from Sylvania, Ohio. "Other (residence halls) have bigger salad bars and ours is just basics.''

Once the dining center opens, U-M will close the smaller dining centers in each of the four residence halls that make up the Hill dormitories, although quick-bite items will be offered. No staff will lose their jobs; any job losses will be accomplished through attrition. Some money will be saved in the move.

Students indicated they won't mind going outside their halls to get a full meal, said Henry. U-M believes the new dining center will be used by students from across the university. It's also close to the U-M hospitals.

The dining center's design uses poured concrete columns and wide windows to give it an unobtrusive and transparent appearance.

It'll be accessible from a new front door at Mosher-Jordan and also from Palmer Field. Members of the public can eat there, but the architects have worked out a design to prevent them from getting into areas of Mosher-Jordan where students live. An outdoor courtyard with permanent seating will be built on either side of the dining center.

U-M believes the dining center will become a showpiece on campus, a place for students to hang out and relax. A similar idea is being discussed for other Central Campus residence halls.

Money for the projects comes from investment proceeds, and housing resources, including a portion of the room and board rates. This fall's rates went up by an average of 4.9 percent, meaning that students living in a double room in a traditional hall now pay $7,374.

Last year, U-M's room and board costs for a double were the second highest in the Big Ten, surpassed by Northwestern University, the only private university in the conference.

Reporter Dave Gershman can be reached at (734) 994-6818 or dgershman@annarbornews.com.