The new Colonnades Dining Hall, located next to the Koury Business Center, will not be ready when the semester starts, but it’s not far behind, in fact, it’s not behind at all.

While students may have expected the dining hall to be open when they arrived this fall, there was never a set date for it’s opening, just the fall of 2007.

“Right now they’re just getting everything in place, implemented and putting the finishing touches on,” said Rita Gordish, the marketing program manager for Aramark. “The date was never set for the opening day of school, so it’s not really running behind.”

“We originally planned that it would be nice to open when students arrived, but not crucial,” said Vickie Somers director of auxillary services. “We’re not replacing a facility, we’re making an addition. so we’ve taken our time to make sure everything is ready.”

The Colonnades Dining Hall’s tentative opening is Sept. 7, but still must get a certificate of occupancy and pass a health inspection.

“Opening a new dining hall is more complicated than opening a residence hall,” Somers said. “We need everything to fit into a certain space. We also need to train the employees so they can find everything they need.”

the Danieley Commons will be open during its usual hours until the new dining hall is ready. When the Colonnades Dining Hall opens, the Commons will close, and it’s still undecided on what will be done with it.

“We’re still discussing what we’ll do with the Commons,” Gordish said. “We’re going to conduct focus groups with students to see what they would like to see go there and then we will go from there.”

Employees from the Commons will be in various places around the campus, and for those students worried about the Danieley wraps, they will be served in Downstairs McEwen.

Sports Editor: Jeff Rickel - 08/24/07