News

Inagural term a success for Eagle Commons dining hall

CLARION, Pa., April 23 — The new Eagle Commons dining hall brought in more sales than the former Chandler Dining Hall.

Since Eagle Commons opened, the sales have increased by 30 percent for the new cafeteria. Unfort-unately, with the increased sales at the cafeteria the Gemmel Food Court sales have dropped 15 percent.

“I knew that the response to the new dining hall would be positive, but I didn’t expect this kind of response from the students and the public,” said Jeff Gauger, Clarion University director of dining services. “The public has been giving us a lot of business during our Sunday brunch every week.”

Everyday roughly 2,500-3,000 people eat there. To help offset the cost of the new building, the money from the eating public will be used. This facility is going to save at least 25 percent more to operate.

Eagle Commons is a $12 million dining facility that opened on Jan. 12. The facility is called Eagle Commons, but the dining hall is still named the Paul Chandler Dining Hall.

The new building replaced the old Chandler Dining Hall. The hall was built in 1966 and needed to be replaced.

“The old Chandler Dining Hall was the most energy inefficient building on campus. It was very expensive to run and we needed to replace it,” said Paul Bylaska, vice president for finance and administration.

An upper-scale dining facility needs more employees to help run it.

“We have to pay about $3,000 more each week for employees, and we have to pay about $2,000 to $3,000 for food every week,” said Gauger. “But we can offer more upscale food and this is also helped by the fact that we don’t use trays anymore.”

With a new building usually problems will come up. So far there haven’t been any major problems at Eagle Commons.

The first two weeks of December, cafeteria employees had to work around contractors while moving things in. With an opening date for January, they also needed to work over Christmas break trying to get the new facility ready.

“We haven’t really had any problems but we have had challenges just like running a new business,” said Gauger. “We have had to learn how to run new machines and employees had to get used to a new building. To train for this new facility, we opened up for RA’s for five days over Christmas break. Also, we held lunch for employees on campus.”

The other business at Eagle Commons is Starbucks Coffee. Three or four years ago, Clarion University students decided that they wanted a Starbucks. So far this semester, student business seems to support the new java site.

There will be a few changes for next year at select food locations. For Chandler Dining Hall, there is research being conducted to gather new food ideas for next year’s menu planning. Enhancement to the Gemmell Food Court is in the early stages of planning. Also, there will be changes to the food area in the Carlson Library.

Eagle Commons will close on April 30 at 6 p.m. The dining hall will be closed May 1 to June 7, and then will be reopening from June 8 to Aug. 28 with a smaller menu. On Aug. 29, the hall will open for the new school year with a full menu. “We are primarily open during the summer for camps which each last about three days,” said Gauger. “Along with the dining hall we are hoping to keep Starbucks open with the public’s help.”

Students are reminded that they should be using up the remainder of their flex dollars. Flex dollars can be used at Chandler Dining Hall, Starbucks, Carlson Library, Gemmell Food Court or for delivery of subs and pizza from Gemmell. Every year $3,000 to $4,000 of student flex dollars are not used and aren’t carried over to the next year.

Some students report positive feedback about the Commons and the new dining hall.

“I think the Eagle Commons is a huge improvement,” said Devin Burda, sophomore Biology Secondary Ed. Major. “I like to go to the gym and eat healthy. Eagle Commons provides quality food that satisfies me.”

Some recognize that there are better times to go than others.

“Eagle Commons, in my opinion, provides great food in a comfortable setting,” said Bradley Porin, freshman Early Childhood/Ele. Education Major. “As long as you avoid the lunch or dinner rush, you can quickly grab some food and enjoy your meal.”