Boston University officials are developing plans for an East Campus Center that would potentially consolidate east campus dining halls into one building, along with various student services, they said.
The East Campus Center would be located at 100 Bay State Road, in the current parking lot next to 575 Commonwealth Ave. The Center could possibly eliminate the dining halls in The Towers, Myles Standish Hall and Shelton Hall, and contain Career Services and the Education Resource Center, officials said.
BU Dining Services spokesman Scott Rosario said in an email that the new plan seeks to improve dining facilities in east campus.’ ‘
‘A new building will allow the university to design a dining facility that incorporates the latest culinary concepts, the most innovative equipment and some of the latest green technologies,’ he said.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘
Along with a new, larger dining facility, President Robert Brown said in a Nov. 16 interview with the Daily Free Press that the building would have space and programming for important student services.
‘There is also a lot of discussion around first year advising,’ he said.’ ‘ ‘
According to Brown’s website, the dining hall in Warren Towers underwent a four year renovation beginning in 2003 that updated its look and enabled it to offer students more dining options.’ ‘
However, renovations are not a cost-effective option for the older east campus dining halls, Rosario said.’
‘There are space limitations and the buildings’ old infrastructure makes significant renovations cost prohibitive,’ he said.’ ‘
BU officials said they have not yet determined what will become of the dining hall areas in Towers, Shelton and Myles. However, getting rid of the three dining halls would open up considerable space for the three residences.’
‘ ‘[The space] could potentially become just great student space,’ Brown said.
Brown emphasized that the administration is still unsure of the future of the three dining halls.’
‘I don’t want to say getting rid of, because dining is still trying to look at concepts,’ he said. ‘I’m just not sure all dining will go out of all east campus places, there may be different limited dining in centers . . . but we are creating one really high quality center that will potentially serve most of east campus.” ‘
The administration is planning on unveiling the design for the East Campus Center in the spring, Brown said.’ ‘
While the Center would offer a better dining option for students living in east campus, some students expressed concern at not having a dining hall in their residency.’ ‘
‘It would be kind of a bummer in the winter having to walk outside to get to the dining hall,’ College of Arts and Sciences sophomore and Towers resident Sarah Tamarkin said.
CAS freshman Luke Savoca, who also lives in Towers, agreed.
‘It makes more sense for everyone to eat in their own buildings rather than one central building,’ he said.’ ‘
However, some said they were enthused by the plan to revamp east campus dining.’
CAS freshman Quincey Lewinson said she usually eats in Warren Towers, despite living in Myles.
‘The food is typically not as good in Myles,’ she said. ‘It’s very tiny and there are not many options.
‘I like the food in Warren, but a lot of us don’t want to be walking all the way over there to eat. It would be better if we had our own nicer dining hall,’ Lewinson said.’
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