Dining hall revamp planned

The Class of 1920 Commons is next on the list of dining facilities to be overhauled under Penn's extensive dorm and dining renovations. Plans for the renovations are still on the drawing board, officials said, and the process will probably not begin until next summer. "We're still a ways off," said Peg Lacey, managing director of campus dining. "It is still going through the phases of approval." The Class of 1920 Commons provides food services for the dormitories in the Hamilton Village area, including the three high rises and Gregory College House. When finished, the updated facility will be larger and less cafeteria-like, said Associate Vice President for Campus Services Larry Moneta. This new renovation is part of a $378.5 million renovation project first announced in the fall of 1998. The project, which will span at least 10 more years, will renovate nearly every dormitory and dining facility on campus. The Hill House dining hall was the first dining facility to be renovated. It was largely completed in the summer of 1999, at a cost of approximately $1 million. According to Moneta, the renovations to the Class of 1920 Commons will greatly expand the size of the complex. "The way we've always planned to do it is by enclosing the plaza between Class of 1920 and Harnwell House,"Moneta said. The newly renovated facility will also attempt to deviate from the traditional cafeteria line setup, where food is prepared perhaps an hour before it is purchased, in favor of a system in which food is freshly made upon the request of the customer. According to Moneta, the new Hill facility is operating along these lines. "You've seen that a little bit at Hill with all the exhibition islands," said Moneta. As of yet, the University does not have an estimate on the cost of this renovation. "At the moment, we're designing independent of cost," Moneta explained. Further renovations to dormitories and dining halls include tearing down the Stouffer Triangle, which is located at 38th and Spruce streets and contains a dining hall, residence and a popular retail strip. But officials -- who originally slated the demolition for 2001 and then pushed it back to after 2003 -- would not give an updated timetable for Stouffer's demolition. Moneta explained that before any work begins on Stouffer, a new facility must be designed and other dormitories and dining halls made ready to cope with the loss of the facility and the ensuing displacement of students. "We'd have to have a new college house designed for the Stouffer community," he said. Lacey supported Moneta's reassurances that Stouffer is not going anywhere yet, explaining, "That is a much larger project," than the impending renovations to the Class of 1920 Commons. "We know that it will be done in phases." And officials said it is not clear whether the retail facilities below Stouffer, such as Wawa, will remain in the new facility.