Next fall the UMC may become more of a leisurely hang out spot to students when the food service area is renovated, new furniture is added and fireplaces are installed.
Director of the UMC Carlos Garcia is working with architect David Schafer on creating a conceptual design to remodel the UMC dining halls and food service area. So far they have presented the University of Colorado Student Union (UCSU) with several schemes and Schafer said they plan to have a finalized design by Dec. 3.
“We had a number of schemes at last week’s meeting, but this one is our ideal scheme,” Schafer said as he presented the blueprints. “We expect to be building consensus over the [Thanksgiving] break and to come back with some plausible goals. The next part is issuing for a bid in March and hopefully construction over the summer [of 2010].”
The project has five goals, Schafer said, which will improve the UMC atmosphere and make the food service areas more efficient. He said the goals are to open the front of the house (where the Alferd Packer Grill is), improve traffic flow in front of the Grill, create better ambiance in the dining rooms, establish an identity for Baby Doe’s and create sustainability.
The budget Garcia and Schafer have to work with is about $1.45 million, and as they later pointed out, that may not be enough. When asked by Legislative Council President Blaine Pellicore about the specifics of the construction, Schafer outlined where money would and wouldn’t be going while Garcia explained the budget was tight.
“Furniture is coming in at around $200,000 and although it’s nice, it isn’t state-of-the-art,” Schafer said. “Food service equipment hasn’t been updated since 1986 so we’re looking into that; we’re also considering removing the entire ceiling and replacing it. Environmental standards will be met, but unfortunately we’re stuck with the original energy boundaries — we don’t have the budget to improve everything.”
As Schafer continued explaining his conceptual design, he went into detail about the project goals for the overall look and ambience. One example included allowing for a living room type of arrangement in the food service area: fireplaces, or big screen TVs in place of them, to give the UMC a cozy feel, Schafer said.
Other small aspects of the dining room and food service layouts include square tables, removal of 50-100 seats and the elimination of turnstile entrances. Due in part to insufficient funding, the renovation will not be Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified, but will be guided by LEED’s standards, according to Schafer.
The UMC west dining hall will remain, for the most part, unchanged. Shafer said the wall on the Baby Doe’s side will be opened up to help increase traffic flow.
“After Thanksgiving we’ll have gone through the budget and drawings and come to [UCSU] with a better offer,” Schafer said. “We have our ideal scheme right now and after getting more information during break, we hope to have a finalized idea that incorporates all our goals under the budget constraints.”
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Adrian Kun at Adrian.kun@colorado.edu.
