Orientation Edition 2008
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Re ggntENCE LIFE INITIATIVE
Regents greenlight North Quad plans
New dorm to cost
extra $38 million
By BRIAN TENGEL
Daily StaffReporter
Dec. 13, 2006 - The University
BoardofRegentsonFridayapproved
a new design for North Quad, cam-
pus's first new residence hall since
Bursley Hall was built 1968.
The schematic design and bud-
get for North Quad were originally
scheduled to be approved at the
regents meeting in March. At the
last minute, though, administrators
decided to delay the approval, citing
concerns over the aesthetics of the
building's exterior.
Coleman said yesterday in an
interview Friday that the original
design wasn'twelcoming enough.
A nine-month delay means that
the dorm University President
Mary Sue Coleman has called the
northwestern gateway to Central
Campus will open at least a year
later than scheduled. It will also
cost an extra $38 million.
TheUniversityhiredarchitectur-
al firm Robert A.M. Stern to rework
the designs with help'from Einhorn
Yaffee Prescott, the architecture
firmbehind the original designs.
Coleman said the new struc-
ture will echo many of the other
buildings on campus, reflect-
ing the aesthetics of structures like
Weill Hall, also designed by archi-
tects at Robert A.M. Stern.
"It's more urban, it's more Michi-
gan, it's more who we are," Coleman
said of the new design.
The hall is now slated for com-
pletion in 2010. The building will
stand on the current site of the
Frieze Building, the demolition of
which the regents approved at their
September meeting.
The new complex, designed to
merge academic facilities and resi-
dential space, will house 460 stu-
dents, the School of Information,
the departments of Communica-
tion Studies and Screen Arts and
Culture, the Language Resource
Center and the Sweetland Writing
Center. The residential part of the
building will include a top-floor
community lounge overlooking
campus, air conditioning in every
room, personal bathrooms and
updated dining facilities.
Image Caf6, a new restaurant on
the State Street commercial cor-
ridor, will also be located in the
complex. It will be accessible from
both inside the building and from
the street.
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'U' might consolidate dining halls
System with .
cafeterias in each
dorm nearing end
By JILLIAN BERMAN
Daily Staff Reporter
Oct. 5, 2007 - In a decade, on-
campus dining could consist of
several large dining halls instead
of smaller, scattered cafeterias.
Administrators say those dining
halls will likely offer more upscale,
marketplace-style options.
Starting with the opening of
the Hill Dining Center next year,
the University's Residential Din-
ing Services plans to introduce
marketplace-style dining into one,
large dining hall each on the Hill,
Central and North Campuses,
according to Christine Siegel, the
senior associate director of Hous-
ing Services. After the Hill Dining
Center is finished, the University
will close the dining halls in Stock-
well, Couzens and Alice Lloyd.
That sort of consolidation could
happen in other campus neighbor-
hoods, Siegel said.
Although it has no concrete
plans, the University could end up
creating a large marketplace-style
dining center to serve both South
and West Quads, Siegel said.
Siegel said the University would
work to make sure that there is a
dining hall within a five-minute
walk of every residence hall.
The changes are part of a multi-
phase plan to modernize campus
dining that grew out of Univer-
sity President Mary Sue Coleman's
residential life initiatives, which
she announced in 2004.
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Construction crews work on the Hill Dining Center, scheduled to open this fall
According to Michael Lee, the
director of Residential Dining Ser-
vicesthe marketplace eaterieswill
have open floor plans. They'll also
include more features like those
being included in the Hill Dining
Center, an international food sta-
tion, stone pizza ovens and a soup,
salad and deli bar.
The new diningsystem will also
feature some smaller operations,
like Bursley's The Blue Apple
Emporium, a convenience store.
Lee said the Hill Dining Center's
retail store will sell more food
made-to-order, and that cooks will
prepare some food right in front of
students.
A marketplace-style dining hall
willbeinplace at NorthQuad when
the new residence hall opens. The
opening is planned for 2010.
Siegel also said a survey of stu-
dents influenced the changes the
University is making in the dining
system.
Siegel said students filled out
dining service surveys and that
students wanted more quality,
variety and hours of service.
Some students maintained that
a five-minute walk may be a point
of contention, too.
"It's more convenient to have
a cafeteria in your residence hall
than to walk out in god-knows-
what conditions to a centralized
location," Engineering freshman
Sarvesh Ramprakash said. "When
you're rolling out of bed, it's a lot
more convenient to go downstairs
in your residence hall."
LSA freshman Joana Coffy said
it's inconvenient to walk from her
dorm room in Fletcher Hall, which
doesn't have a dining hall, to South
Quad, which does.
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E-mail Chris Herring at
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