University Housing and Dining Services will be completing a number of renovations this summer to make residence halls and dining centers more efficient and comfortable.

Mark Hudson, director of housing and dining, said demolition for the Stevenson Hall renovations will begin May 10.

“Right now, that serving area is very linear,” Hudson said. “We are going to arrange it so when you walk into the area you can go to stations for different levels of service.”

Hudson said all equipment in the serving area will be removed and the glass wall, which divides the serving and dining areas, will be pushed out five feet. Enlarging the amount of space in the serving area will allow for an increase in the menu selection, and ensure the area can be navigated more quickly.

“I think it will make the speed a lot faster and it will gives more flexibility on menu items,” Hudson said.

Updates will also be made to the dining area, including the addition of booth seating.

Also, new accessible bathrooms will be constructed off of the main lobby.

“They will be closer to the dining center and available to the general public who are using that facility,” Hudson said.

Over the summer the windows in Stevenson, Thomas and Andrews Halls will be replaced with double-paned-high-efficiency windows.

Hudson said the current windows have been in place for 40 years, since each of three the residence halls was constructed.

“It will result in an energy savings as well as a comfort increase for residents,” Hudson said.

Lincoln Hall will be retrofitted with a sprinkler system and new fire alarms, and the current bathrooms will be gutted and replaced with private bathrooms in a centralized cluster.

Thomas Hall will also be retrofitted with a sprinkler system.

Jason Hardimon can be reached at 581-7942 or jrhardimon2@eiu.edu

Ashley Crocello a junior special education major from Carol Stream, restocks pudding while working in the Stevenson Dining Center Sunday afternoon. (Danny Damiani/The Daily Eastern News)

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