Meet the new Proctor And learn about plans for expanding Ross

Author: Anna Briggs

With the news of Atwater Dining Hall closing next winter and Ross Dining Hall closing for renovations this fall, students are particularly looking forward to the reopening of Proctor. Most of the structural work on the renovated dining hall is complete, and the construction crew is beginning some of the final stages of work on the dining areas and the College Bookstore. The reopening of Proctor will be coupled with the closing of Ross Dining Hall for the fall semester.

Proctor will not be too different from the way students remember it, but the Woodstove Lounge, servery, dining room and mezzanine will be more spacious.

"We have opened it up," said Mark Gleason, project manager for the renovations, on a tour of the facilities. Proctor will have more seating capacity than previously - in total, approximately 600 seats, compared to the old Proctor's 400.

When all of the renovations are complete and both Ross and Proctor are running at their normal capacity next spring, there will be 1075 seats between the two. That is 200 more than at present with Ross, Atwater and FIC operating, and is approximately the same number of seats as there were with Ross, Atwater and Proctor.

The new Woodstove Lounge will feature a large fireplace and newly installed doors that will open onto the patio.

"It will seat about 50 or so diners with different types of tables and bench seating," Gleason said.

The Proctor servery has been expanded to accommodate the larger number of students that will now be able to be seated in the dining hall. From the front door of the building, there is now a straight hallway to the door of the servery, which is flanked by windows looking out onto the perpendicular hallway. There will be a horseshoe-shaped serving area for hot food, a massive 16-foot salad bar, a grill, panini machines and a soup counter. All of the servery functions will now be contained in one room, as opposed to in the old Proctor, which had the salad bar and ice cream in the main dining hall.

"After hours, the door [between the servery and the dining room] can be closed, and the students can still use this space," said Gleason. This means that students will be able to continue to lounge around in Proctor outside of serving hours, for maximum utility of the space.

The stairway up to the mezzanine now faces the opposite direction because of the expansion of the servery, and the dining room will feature a wood slat ceiling and carpeted floor. According to Gleason, this will create much better acoustics than Ross or Atwater.

In addition to the expanded eating areas, the renovations on Proctor will bring the dining hall entirely into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Proctor will be ramp-accessible, and students can access the mezzanine and the Redfield Dining Room by elevator. The new bathrooms have been made larger to make them wheelchair accessible. The building's utilities have received an upgrade, and the electrical and sprinkler systems have also been replaced.

Gleason said some aspects of Proctor - such as the dish room and much of the kitchen equipment downstairs - will remain unchanged. Gleason explained that these renovations were originally intended to be a 10- to 15-year fix for the building, according to the College's architectural master plan. Based on the current economic climate, however, that timeframe will likely be extended.

In addition to the renovations to the dining areas of Proctor, there is also extensive work being done on the Bookstore, which will once again contain all store functions in one space. There will be a fireplace where the old side entrance by the tennis courts used to be, and there will be seating areas for students and offices for Bookstore staff.

The back wall of what is now the clothing area of the Bookstore will be torn down, revealing the rest of the future Bookstore. The room to the right of the Bookstore entrance, where textbooks were sold this spring, will turn into a space for student activities.

When Proctor's doors reopen this fall, Ross will close its doors to begin renovations. According to Director of Dining Services Matthew Biette, students should not worry about radical changes to the dining hall.

"Ross will remain Ross as everyone knows it," Biette said. Most of the renovations will expand the existing space, he said, rather than changing it drastically.

Biette said the pit will be raised to become flush with the main level of the dining hall. This will allow for more seating where the walls and ramps are currently.

The Fireplace Lounge will continue to seat students, and the glass-paneled doors running along the side of the dining hall will be moved out to the hallway, creating more seating space where the lobby area is currently. In addition, the small kitchenette next to the Fireplace Lounge will be converted into more dining space, which will be able to seat about 20 people.

Biette expects the new Ross to be able to seat 450 students, 85 more than the 365 it currently accepts.