With the closing of Harden Dining Hall in fall 2012, Elon Dining Services has plans to close 1889 Grill Room and incorporate the facility into Colonnades dining hall in order to provide more seating for students frequenting the all-you-can eat dining option.
Harden Dining Hall will close so that construction of the new Global Residential Neighborhood can begin, leaving the Elon community with McEwen and Colonnades as the only two all-you-can-eat dining options. Because of this limitation, Dining Services is considering turning 1889 Grill Room into a larger seating area for upstairs Colonnades customers.
If the decision to close 1889 is made, it would return to campus spring 2013, according to Kate Nelson, marketing manager of Elon Dining Services.
“Once a final decision has been made, Elon Dining will communicate all changes to the fall 2012 program,” Nelson said.
Many students have had a negative reaction to the proposal.
“I understand that this change would be temporary, but getting rid of 1889 would eliminate one of the best places to eat on campus,” said sophomore Rosemary Daddona.
1889 Grill Room provides students with a more upscale option for lunch and dinner than other places on campus.
“I remember touring the campus as a senior in high school and thinking to myself how awesome it was to have a restaurant-style place on campus that came with my meal plan,” said sophomore Kate Chenny. “I will be sad to see it go.”
But not all students are upset by the proposed closing of 1889.
“I am gluten free, and 1889 has horrible, if any, options for me to eat,” said freshman Jackie Rosenberg. “The new dining services will have more and healthier choices.”
Nelson said the new Global Dining Hall & Retail Cafe will open at the beginning of 2013.
“This new building will feature a state-of-the-art dining hall, food court boasting a variety of foods and a 4,500 square-foot conference room for catered events,” Nelson said.
The food court area will be similar to Octagon, with three food concepts: local, international and home.
The idea for a local station was inspired by the local availability of food and will offer a variety of options according to season. The international station will feature dishes from a foreign country each week, and the home station will have comfort foods.
Additionally, each station serves an educational purpose about local farming, origins of international food and the farm-to-fork program.
Chik-fil-A will offer breakfast, lunch and dinner and Freshii will be added to further enhance the healthy and eco-friendly approach for dining.
“As more students realize how many options are being added next year, putting 1889 on hold will be worth it,” Chenny said. “The expansion of Moseley and addition of Freshii is something to look forward to.”