If the overwhelming amount of dirt on Cates and Dunn avenues and the overcrowded dining halls haven’t made it obvious enough, Phase I of the new Talley Student Center still is not open.
The University is working to attain a beneficial occupancy document, which will allow it to begin moving furniture and equipment into the facility, according to Jennifer Gilmore, director of Marketing and Communications for Campus Enterprises.
Not only is Phase I not open, but neither is any of Talley. Taco Bell, Wolfpack Subs, Freshens and the Wolves’ Den are all closed in preparation for the Phase II renovation. The Frequently Asked Questions page for the spring 2012 Talley renovations predicted that the Talley Food Court would “provide service until Phase I is completed and the new dining options open.” Unfortunately, this is not the case. Gilmore said the University is hoping to open the Pavilion Food Court and the Talley Market later this fall, but Phase I of construction is not expected to fully draw to a close until spring 2014.
The construction has been especially inconvenient for students with meal plans. There are only a few dining options open on main campus—the three dining halls, the Atrium and Port City Java. Sure, we have Hill of Beans and the Creamery, but neither offer substantial lunch or dinner options. And while On the Oval is a great addition to Centennial Campus, there are not nearly as many students on Centennial as there are on main campus.
The University has tried to compensate for the lack of dining options by making food trucks available to students. The truck in the Brickyard marked with a big N.C. State block logo accepts student meal plans. But the bulk of the food trucks, which park outside Reynolds Coliseum, are private vendors and therefore do not accept meal plans.
We can’t blame the University for the rain delays, but we think University Dining could have further compensated for the lack of dining options by adding more food trucks that accept meal plans. Additionally, it can extend the hours of operation for the dining halls. Many college campus dining halls remain open until 10 p.m. or midnight, while the latest ours stay open is 8:30 p.m. The University could have entirely avoided overcrowding the dining halls by keeping the old Talley Food Court open until its other venues were ready to open.
The new Talley will not only provide more dining options, but it will also attract more students to our campus, which has often been called “ugly.” The Technician staff understands that the Talley renovation is necessary and will be worth the wait. We just wish we could already be talking about how great it is rather than how great it will be.
