Hoover Hall is expected to officaly open November 1. SAM CARAVANA / THE DEPAUW
Hoover Hall, DePauw’s dream dining hall, will be open to students on Oct. 31. As of now, only the finishing touches are left, according to Project Manager Warren Whitesell.
The three story dining hall will house a full-service kitchen in the basement, four separate dining rooms open to students and faculty, and a main student dining hall that seats 450 people, as opposed to the Hub which only seated 300 people on average.
“It’s on time; it’s on budget,” said DePauw’s Vice President of Finance and Administration, Brad Kelsheimer.
Hoover Hall is one of three separate projects taking place on campus right now. The sidewalks and landscaping, along with the monuments around East College, are in the process of getting an upgrade. The sidewalks will reopen before classes begin. The fountain located next to East College was removed because of maintenance and a larger fountain will be created in its place.
The food service area of Hoover is estimated to be close to two and a half times larger than the Hub. Whitesell said 90% of the kitchen equipment has been delivered. In the service area there will be a full salad bar, cereal section, hot foods, international foods and a pizza oven, something DePauw dining hasn’t had in the past. The majority of the food will be prepared in front of students and will include the same locally sourced ingredients used in the Hub . “You still won’t see a can,” said Kelsheimer, “as fresh as can be.”
Hoover Hall is DePauw’s second Gold Star building for energy efficiency, Prindle being the first. “All our equipment is energy star,” said Whitesell, “Most materials were sourced less than 500 miles away.”
The wood used in Hoover is from native Indiana wood species and the majority of lights are LED.
Hoover is also handicap accessible, with wheelchair ramps on both the east and west entrances and two elevators in the building. There are three single-stall general use restrooms found in the building that can be used by families and gender nonconforming.
The dining hall will have four dining rooms available for rent by both students and faculty. One room holds 16 people, two hold 32 people, and one holds 40 people. Each rentable dining room comes with a built-in projector, a white board, adjustable lights and automatic shades.
Hoover has been built to relieve the type of congestion common in the Hub, with the service area and all dining areas designed to provide the maximum amount of space per-person possible while still being practical. “If [Hoover] increases the space like intended then I think Hoover will be a success,” said junior Laurel Tilton.
On the south end of Hoover, facing the Green Center for the Performing Arts, is the Wallace Stewart Commons, a dining room with an 80 person capacity and will be reserved for faculty, the board of trustees and other alumni events.
Whitesell said Hoover Hall was more than necessary on DePauw’s campus, with the Hub getting close to disrepair at the end of last semester. Whitesell said as far as equipment went, the majority of what was found in the Hub kitchen was “mostly at the end of its useful life.”
The walkway between Hoover and the student union, will not be fully completed until fall of 2017. To speed up construction, part of the Hub was torn down in hopes of expediting the project.
Until Oct. 31, students, faculty and staff will be eating out of The DePauw Inn. “It’s an awesome option for people,” said Kelshiemer. Kelsheimer said there is more seating in the Inn than at the Hub, and Cafe Allegro and Cafe Roy will have added sandwich and food options for students. The Den will also remain open until the end of October.
“The space (DePauw dining at the Inn) is extremely cramped and the dark lighting makes it appear even more so,” said Tilton, who stayed on campus over the summer. “I don’t know how it’s going to handle the entire non-Greek population once everyone is back on campus,” she said.
Hoover is expected to open to the student body in 92 days.