By Laura Newsome
For the Red & Black
February 26, 2003
By Laura Newsome
For the Red & Black
February 26, 2003
The University's Snelling Dining Hall has been nominated for the 2002 "Foodservice Equipment & Supplies" (FE&S) magazine's Facility Design Project of the Year.
"We're very excited, realizing that this is a design award in which we are in the running with restaurants, hotels and medical facilities," said Michael Floyd, head of the University's Food Service Administration.
Snelling was awarded the magazine's "Facility Design Project of the Month" for Sept. 2002. The monthly award winners for 2002 are now in the running for the overall winner of design project of the year.
"Each time we do a renovation, it raises the bar for what we have done," Floyd said. "The renovation of Snelling is definitely the pinnacle of our remodeling projects."
In the article about Snelling, FE&S reported the remodeling job increased the number of people that can be served, from 3,000 to 5,000 students per day.
"Since the remodeling, I think things are a lot more accessible, and it has really opened up the place," said Bob Hicks, a sophomore from Roswell.
The renovation of Snelling has helped to decrease the long lines and the problems associated with a large number of students flowing in and out of the facility, Floyd said.
Snelling is not your "mom and papa's dinning hall," Floyd said. "I've never heard anything but compliments from our customers."
Despite internal remodeling efforts, some students still feel like the dining facility itself does not meet the demand of the students.
"Snelling doesn't efficiently hold as many people as it should," said Jill Henderson, a junior from Kennesaw. "The lines overlap between the stations, and people are always running into each other because it is so crowded.
"I think the food quality and the service at each individual station has improved, but the facility itself is not large enough," she said.
The FE&S award is the first award that University Food Services has ever won for facility design, although they have won numerous awards for food quality.
The overall winner for 2002 will be announced in the April 2003 issue of FE&S magazine. The winning project team will attend the FE&S annual awards banquet in Chicago on April 21 and 22.
The University Food Services remodeled Oglethorpe Dining Hall in 1996, Bolton Dining Hall in 2001, and the Bulldog CafZ in the summer of 2002.
Currently, Food Services is preparing for the construction of the East Campus Dining Hall near the Ramsey Center, which will open in the fall of 2004.