Food-service renovations planned
Facelift would turn Student Club area into "village square" for Elliott residents

By SUE WUETCHER
Reporter Editor

Construction is slated to begin shortly after commencement on a $5 million renovation of the Faculty Student Association's retail and food-service operation in the Ellicott Complex that would turn the Student Club area into a "village square" for residents of the residential complex.

Among the amenities planned are a food court, a Starbucks-style coffee house, an expanded Elli convenience store, a relocated Hubie's pizza shop, a new bus waiting area and entrance, and a two-story, glass atrium area on Marshall Court overlooking Lake LaSalle.

	These artist's renderings supplied by FSA show how the proposed atrium and food court would look after renovations to the Student Club area in Ellicott. Part of the plan is to turn the area into a "village square" for residents.

The project also includes ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) upgrades to the lavatories and entranceway, and relocation of FSA support areas for such services as catering, maintenance shops, laundry and storage.

Mitch Green, executive director of FSA, says the food-service operation in Ellicott is "seriously outdated" and has remained unchanged since the complex was built in 1974. Morever, Green says, students' tastes have "changed significantly" since that time.

The renovation project is an attempt to "respond to what students are asking for," as well as address an evaluation of FSA's dining services conducted in 1998 by a research group affiliated with Marriott International Inc., he notes. The evaluation indicated a need to change the campus food-service delivery system and upgrade the campus dining facilities.

A key aspect of the project is the "village square" concept creating a central focus for Ellicott residents, Green says.

"Ellicott is a cold, unfeeling place," he notes. "There is no central social space. We want to create a central facility for Ellicott so students can hang out and socialize."

In addition to a dining area, the atrium also is envisioned as a site where students can hold meetings, or listen to a folk singer or a poetry reading, Green adds. A 1,600-square-foot patio overlooking Marshall Court and Lake LaSalle will provide a large gathering space for fall and spring activities.

Bids for food-service equipment will go out within the next week or so, and the general-contracting work will go out to bid two weeks after that, he says.

While some demolition and preparation work will be done during the spring semester, the bulk of construction will take place after commencement and go through the Fall 2002 semester. Construciton is expected to be completed next December.

The project was designed by the Rochester firm of Pospula Associates, Green says, noting that, coincidentally, the architect on the project, Penny Haley, is a UB graduate who lived in Ellicott.

The work will be financed by bonds sold through the Amherst Industrial Development Agency, he says, noting UB already has received tentative approval for the bond sale from the AIDA.

The Student Club renovation is the latest in a series of dining-service projects managed by Green since he joined FSA in 1998. The Goodyear dining hall was overhauled in the summer of 1998 from a typical, straight-line cafeteria into a "marche-type" dining hall. Dining facilities also were renovated in Governors (January 1999), Richmond (August 1999) and Red Jacket (January 2000).