Students who purchase a campus meal plan next year will have the option of eating at a brand new dining hall, which is opening on campus next fall.
The new dining facility, the Mark on Fifth, will open inside Mark Twain Hall at the beginning of the school year after renovations are completed in July. Its offerings will include sandwiches, pizza and salads. This new dining hall will replace Mark Twain Market, which was located in Mark Twain prior to the renovations and known for its world fare concept, offering a variety of ethnic cuisines.
“Our big project right now is the new Mark Twain market, which will be opening in the fall,” Campus Dining Marketing Manager Michael Wuest said. “The facility will be upscale and offer additional seating. The focus will be on sandwiches made with fresh baked breads and hot proteins.”
The Mark on Fifth’s manager, Lisa McDaniels, said she hopes that the new facility, with its focus on deli fare, will fill a niche on campus by providing a new and different experience that will appeal to students.
“Our hope is to be known for our deli which we are hoping will be the most extensive on campus,” McDaniels said in a speech at a Residential Halls Association meeting April 1. “A unique aspect of this will be that we will offer hot proteins including meatball, chicken and French dip sandwiches as well as a panini grill.”
In addition, cheese pizza will also be offered daily along with one of nine rotating pizzas and a variety of pizza breads. The facility will also include an expanded salad bar, which will offer a variety of yogurts and toppings and fresh fruits. Like other dining facilities on campus, the Mark will include a grill offering chicken, fish, hot dogs and hamburgers. McDaniels said that one of her future goals is to expand the Mark’s grill offerings.
McDaniels said that the facility would have seating for 275 and extensive hours. The facility will be open in the morning from 7 to 10 a.m., at lunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and at night from 4:30 to 7 p.m. The facility will not be open for morning hours on weekends. Take-out deli fare and pizzas will be available from 8 to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday in a format similar to Rollins Late Night.
Once the Mark on Fifth opens in the fall, Campus Dining Services will turn its attention to the other dining hall renovations it is currently planning. In January, Sabai will close and then reopen the following fall along with Johnston Hall, where it is located.
“We are planning to move toward more of a made to offer menu,” Wuest said. “We will still do batch cooking but we want to offer more customizable items. We are in the process of conducting research to see what students would want from Sabai,” Wuest said.
Also on the horizon is an expansion of Plaza 900, which will add about 200 seats to the facility. A new upscale café will open in place of Emporium Café, and the renovated facility will also include a new food station, which is still under development. The plan is for the Plaza renovation over the summer of 2014 with Plaza closing at the end of the spring semester and opening in time for the fall semester so as to not be closed during the school year.
Wuest also said that CDS plans to renovate the Pavilion at Dobbs dining area during the fall of 2016.
“We have not gone into full planning mode for Dobbs yet, but that is something we are looking into and starting to develop,” Wuest said. “We will begin seeking student input on that renovation soon.”
