University engineer Bob Nestle said construction will begin in February and is slated to finish by August.

“If (the students) are going to go out in the industry, most of the places they’ll go to work will have a lot more modern equipment than that facility has had in many years,” Nestle said. “We’re bringing it up to what students will expect to see in the real world.”

The last major renovations to the space took place more than 20 years ago, said Mike Rice, a professor of practice for the School of Hospitality Business, who is helping coordinate the construction project. Creating updated, modern facilities is important for teaching students heading into the hotel and restaurant profession, he said.

“We’ve got to keep up with the time and keep it looking nice for the customers, too,” Rice said. “It’s important both for the students for their learning and important for the customers we serve.”

The updated classroom demonstration theater will seat 65 students and have updated technology, including TV monitors and cameras that will be able to zoom in to allow students to see the food professors prepare up close, Rice said. The facility’s two kitchens soon will have new flooring and enhanced lighting and equipment and the 80-person dining room will get new carpet and wall finishes, he said.

“It will have a whole different ambiance,” Rice said.
The space near the front entrance of Kellogg Center also will be renovated to feature some of the school’s donors and significant alumni, he said.

The school is a leader in hospitality business programs across the U.S., Rice said.

Hospitality business senior Lindsey Gintner said she has taken classes in the labs in the past and they help students experience how their job atmosphere will feel after graduation.

“It really makes it feel like you’re doing the total chef experience,” she said. “You learn how it would feel to run a kitchen if you’re a hotel manager and the chef doesn’t show up.”

Rice said the labs are used by several different hospitality business classes. One requires groups of students to put together menus and market them in addition to preparing and serving food to a dinner group about six different times throughout the semester, he said. New TV monitors put into the dining room will show patrons the efforts of these students or any others working on making meals, he said.

“In the kitchen as food’s being prepared … those that are dining can watch students prepare the food in the kitchen,” Rice said.