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| * Purdue University Residences |
April 29, 2008
Purdue listens to students, closes last of its 'old school' cafeterias
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - |
Tarkington Hall Dining Room will serve its last meals between 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. The 50-year-old, 210-seat dining room is closing to make way for a 500-seat standalone dining court that will open this summer just south of the Tarkington-Wiley residence hall complex.
"Today's students have different lifestyles and are attracted to facilities in line with their expectations, " said John A. Sautter, vice president for housing and food services. "There's a lot of tradition and sentimentality of eating where you live that's hard to let go, but as times change and students change, we must change too."
Sarah Johnson, University Residences director of dining services, said a generation ago students compared campus food to their mom's cooking. Now the student benchmark is restaurants.
"We used to hear, 'Why can't you make your meatloaf like my mom?'" Johnson said. "In recent years students tell us that they want their pasta like Olive Garden and their burgers like Chili's."
Tarkington Dining Room serves about 500 lunches and 400 dinners per day. The dining room is still popular for its hallmark meals like gourmet burgers at lunch and Steak Night dinners. Until the end, the biweekly Wing Night drew in excess of 900 students who would consume roughly 1,300 pounds of Buffalo wings in about two hours. But Tarkington's busiest days were still only a fraction of the 6,500 meals per day served at the large, modern and stylish three-year-old Ford Dining Court just across Stadium Avenue.
Since beginning a 10-year, $58 million master plan, University Residences has closed dining rooms at Cary Quadrangle, Owen, Wiley, Meredith, McCutcheon, Harrison and Shreve halls. Dining rooms at Earhart, Hillenbrand and Windsor Halls have been expanded and modernized into dining courts, each with its own theme, and signature serving stations such as Windsor's SoHo international foods and Portabello Road vegetarian fare. Ford's entrance is dominated by an open-flame pizza oven, Earhart features a Mongolian grill and the new dining court will feature prominently a Brazilian barbeque concept.
"Well before they reach Purdue, our students are used to going out to eat, " said Barbara Frazee, director of University Residences. "So, we have created destination dining on campus with a variety of décor and menus."
Tarkington Hall is welcoming the entire community, on- and off-campus, for the final $8.25 luncheon. Denton Sederquist, general manager at Tarkington Hall, said there will be no special presentations or ceremonies.
"We're just inviting people to enjoy it the way it was one more time. That's the tribute. We don't need to do anything special. Every meal here has been special," Sederquist said. "It's the start of a new era. Modern dining courts are what today's students are looking for, and we are giving it to them."
Writer: Jim Schenke, (765) 494-6262, jschenke@purdue.edu
Sources: John A. Sautter, (765) 494-1000, jasautter@purdue.edu
Barbara Frazee, (765) 494-1000, bjfrazee@purdue.edu
Sarah Johnson, (765) 494-1000, scj@purdue.edu
Denton Sederquist, (765) 494-2312, sederquist@prdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
Note to Journalists: Working members of the media are welcome to attend the final luncheon at Tarkington Hall Dining Room. For more information, contact Jim Schenke at (765) 494-6262, jschenke@purdue.edu
PHOTO CAPTION:
Purdue students line up for the last gourmet burger lunch at Tarkington Dining Room. University Residences' last old-style residence hall cafeteria closes on May 2, 2008. It is being replaced by a new standalone dining court that will open this summer just south of Wiley Hall. (Purdue News Service photo/Jim Schenke)
A publication-quality photo is available at https://www.purdue.edu/uns/images/+2008/TarkLastBurger.jpg
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