With the snip of a pair of giant scissors and a laugh from the people wielding them, the Northern Arizona University
community got a half a dozen new dining options, just in time for the new school year.
President Rita Cheng and Barry Telford, the vice president of Sodexo North America, cut the ribbon—ahem, giant actual noodle—at the renovated duBois South Union Thursday.
The 88,000-square-foot renovation includes:
- A dining hall and retail dining locations, with Italian, American, New York-style and Latin-inspired menus along with options for clean eating or vegetarian diners.
- Conference rooms and public spaces available on south campus.
- The South Academic Success Center, which will offer in-person and online tutoring services, Supplemental Instruction sessions, academic mentoring and test prep courses.
- The Testing Center, which is twice as large as in its former home at the Franke College of Business.
“By centrally locating these services in the duBois South Union, we are able to improve access and support our retention and graduation goals,” President Cheng said. “I’m very proud of this long overdue renovation that has modernized the look, added more variety and given this an appropriately student union feel.”
The building, which remained open during the renovation, maintained the architectural character of a 1960s south campus building and is now at LEED gold standards for electrical efficiency and mechanical systems.