The only thing standing between N.C. State students and the new dining locations at Talley Student Union is an elevator inspection.

Tim Hogan, operations director of University Student Center in Campus Enterprises, said the University will still not give an exact date for the Union’s opening, but once inspectors give administrators the green light, it will not be long before students have access to its dining facilities.

“We have been working with the contractors and the inspectors for final occupancy, and specifically, we’re waiting on our elevator certificate,” Hogan said. 

Jennifer Gilmore, director of marketing communication with Campus Enterprises, said she had hoped the inspections would be done by this point.

“We’ve had a few exciting opportunities to make the announcement that have come and gone, including the [N.C. State Basketball Campout],” Gilmore said. 

Gilmore said that the current expected date of Talley’s opening has not been released yet because the University wanted to be sure that the given date was accurate. 

“Through unexpected inspection difficulties, several opportunities to open have been thwarted,” Gilmore said.

Gilmore said that the opening time all depends on the inspectors and getting everything cleared. 

“I just know that [the inspectors] have an extensive checklist, and every detail must be checked off before they will issue the certificate,” Gilmore said. “The same people who inspect the elevators also inspect the rides at the state fair, so they are very busy this time of year.”

Hogan said the next elevator inspection is scheduled for this week and once that certification is in-hand, Campus Enterprises will make an announcement and Talley will open shortly after.

 “Fingers crossed, we’re ready, hopefully within the next week or so, to open up,” Hogan said. 

According to the University Dining website, Talley is already partially open.

“While renovations are ongoing through late 2014, several new dining options are now available,” is stated on the website.

Hogan said that this was just an error that was made in the hustle to get everything ready for opening.

“They pulled the trigger a little bit early on that,” Hogan said. 

Gilmore took the blame for that error, but said that the opening was so close that she didn’t see enough of a reason to take it down. She said she wanted students to be able to go ahead and see the dining and menu options available.

“When we’re ready, the notice will come quickly and students will not have to wait very long — it could be hours,” Gilmore said.

Gilmore said that Talley is a huge undertaking for N.C. State, and there are a lot of different pieces that must work together.

“Everybody has the different role that they play,” Gilmore said. “It’s almost like playing in an orchestra if you think about it.”

During the summer, Campus Enterprises and Capital Project Management, a group within the Facilities Division of N.C. State, agreed upon a mid-October opening date for the dining area of Talley. The goal was to reduce the workload of other dining facilities on campus, according to Hogan.

“Technically, we’re opening the building early, not late,” Hogan said.

Hogan said that this is a very exciting time for the University.

“We’re really looking forward to getting ourselves open and letting the students experience what we’ve seen in the making for a couple of years,” Hogan said.

For this reason, the furniture is already in the building, the website is set up, and it could be just a matter of hours before Talley is open, according to Gilmore.

“Once [the inspectors] tell us, and we get everything set, we’re not going to make anybody wait any longer than they have to,” Gilmore said.

Gilmore said that although she is excited to get it open, the delays haven’t been all bad.

“It’s been advantageous to have a little time to train and fine-tune the restaurants,” Gilmore said.