The College of William & Mary plans to begin work in December to expand the dining facility at the Sadler Center, an $8 million project.
The 7,000-square-foot expansion will double the capacity of the dining hall, which currently seats 300. The current hall also has only one entrance and one pay station, but after the expansion, will have two entrances and three pay stations. Students will be enthused about another addition: late-night dining.
The expansion is the first for the Sadler Center, which opened in 1993. When it was built, the college had 7,200 students; the college now has 8,200 enrolled.
“We’ve been trying to fit somewhere between 1,600 and 1,700 students through that facility in a one-and-a-half to two-hour lunch period with only 300 seats and a very disjointed serving area,” said Anna Martin, vice president of administration. She went on to say, “Adding 400 seats to raise the total number to 700 and redesigning the serving areas will really ease the congestion in there and make dining a more pleasant experience.”
The expansion will be partially funded through the new mandatory four-year meal plan for residential students, instituted for freshmen last year. Martin told W&M News that with the requirement that all residential students eat on campus, the college was making a commitment “that we would improve the food service and seating capacity at the Sadler Center.”
“The funding to support the expansion was built into the financials when we developed the mandatory plan,” she said. “Of all the things that our students thought needed improvement in our dining services program, Sadler Center operations stood out as the most urgent need to address.”
When the university hosted a public forum last month, a sophomore asked why the meal plan was required, noting it was a considerable expense. President Taylor Reveley responded quickly, “We need the money.” Martin added that the state doesn’t fund any capital construction projects other than academic buildings, so all investments must be paid through fees.
Clark Nexsen, an architectural firm in Norfolk, designed the expansion. Its construction will not interrupt dining services during the spring semester, Martin said.
