Campus dining halls anticipate modifications

The+inside+of+Roess+Dining+Hall.

Darcy Sluder

The inside of Roess Dining Hall.

Eric Mendiola, Reporter

Renovations to campus dining halls are aimed to begin in May and are set to be completed before the fall 2023 semester.

Modifications will be made to Roess Dining Hall and Trivette Hall to accommodate the new dining format which was introduced in the fall 2022 semester, according to the App State’s Future website.

The new floor plans will “improve the functionality, efficiency and overall student experience,” wrote John Eckman, associate vice chancellor of Campus Services.

The All You Care to Eat swipe-based dining plan which “limits food insecurity,” was adopted by the university to ensure students were receiving an “accessible” dining experience every week, according to App State’s campus dining website.

Roess Dining Hall and Trivette Hall were last renovated in summer 2022 to fit the swipe-based plan. However, there are still some improvements to be made, according to the App State’s Future website.

Some of those improvements include:

  • Renovating self-service areas to facilitate foot traffic,
  • Replacing self-serve equipment with more fitting utensils appropriate for self-service,
  • Updating past renovations,

Eckman wrote.

Campus Dining will cover the project with $3.5 million dollars worth of accrued revenue, Eckman wrote.

Although a contractor for the project has yet to be determined, App State has chosen Moseley Architects to design the new layout, Eckman wrote.

Interior design majors, Kaiden Usilton and Daphne Watson contributed to design prospective plans for App State’s Hickory campus, which is set to open this fall.

“I think that they could definitely use improvements,” said Watson, referencing the current state of Roess and Trivette dining halls. 

The prospective designs were “very updated and modern,” Usilton said.

The updates may be appealing, but the essence of the project should be to ease the crowding in Roess and to allow for more students to come in, Usilton said.