Rogers State University officials have announced an April 2 groundbreaking for a new dining hall to serve existing campus residents, as well as provide for future expansion of on-campus housing.
All RSU students, faculty and staff are invited to attend the dining hall groundbreaking ceremony at 10 a.m., Tuesday, April 2. The ceremony will be held at the construction site, which is located southwest of University Village B on the Claremore campus.
The 17,300-square-foot, two-story building will include an open dining space with capacity to serve up to 1,000 students, kitchen facilities and a basement/storm shelter that can provide protection during inclement weather. The facility also includes a generator to power the building during electrical power outages.
The OU Board of Regents this week approved the $4.9 million project, which is being funded through donations, university funds and proceeds from revenue bonds issued through the Oklahoma Finance Development Authority. More than half of the funds have come through private donations, including a $1 million lead gift from the H.A. and Mary K. Chapman Charitable Trust.
“This marks an historic moment in the university’s history,” said RSU President Dr. Larry Rice. “During the past decade, RSU has been the state’s fastest growing four-year university. The dining hall project is key to RSU’s future growth in Claremore as it allows us to provide full-service dining facilities for current students, and establishes capacity to meet future needs when the university expands its on-campus housing.”
The university currently has about 500 students living in on-campus housing, with plans to add another approximately 250 campus beds in the future. The campus currently provides meal service through the Centennial Center, which has seating for about 125. The new dining hall will provide more seating per meal with expanded menu options in a setting that is conveniently adjacent to the University Village student apartment complexes.
The firm selected to develop the design-build project is Key Construction of Tulsa. The design team includes Phillips Slaughter Rose and Martin Engineering Design, both of Tulsa.
Construction is scheduled to start in April, with the dining hall expected to be completed in time for the fall 2014 semester.