University of Arkansas Holds Ceremony at New Residence Hall Building

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The University of Arkansas marked its newest building with a beam-signing ceremony Friday. Founders Hall, the six-story 78,500-square-foot residence hall will provide more than 200 new beds for students and alleviate some of the lunchtime crowding in both Brough Commons Dining Hall and the Arkansas Union’s dining area.

The University of Arkansas surpassed 24,000 students this year and is expected to exceed 28,000 in the next few years. This increase is great for campus and the surrounding communities but does mean more housing and dining spaces are needed on campus. Brough Commons currently serves 2,700 meals during the average lunch rush, with another 150 lunches being served by the “Brough-to-go” operation. Quiznos and Papa John’s Pizza also serve students during lunch and dinner. While the Union does provide another dining location and option, students cannot use their meal plans in the Union at lunch, which serves many faculty and staff.

“The location was an important point,” said David Davies, assistant vice provost for finance and administration in Student Affairs. The location of Founders Hall, on the corner of McIlroy Avenue and Dickson Street, is an effort to serve the large number of students in the area and provide a place  for students who room on one end of campus, but have classes on the other, so they don’t have to cross campus just to eat lunch.

“When the university decided to build a new residence hall in that area we knew that we had to expand Brough Commons dining space,” Davies said, “It’s a golden corner.”

The second floor of Founders Hall will increase the Brough Commons dining space by approximately 225 seats and offer a direct connection to the current dining space on Brough Commons’ second floor. It could also double as a classroom or event space during non-lunch hours. The first floor will build on the success of “Brough-To-Go,” and the retail dining establishments such as Starbucks, Quiznos and Papa John’s. Fayetteville’s own Slim Chickens will open a branch in Founders Hall, and Papa John’s will move to the new building allowing Quiznos to expand on the first floor of Brough, accommodating the often long lines of students waiting to order a sandwich.

The U of A will also partner with the Compass Group,  the parent company of Chartwells, the university’s food vendor, to develop the first “innovation café”. This one-of-a- kind partnership will provide an outlet for Compass to test new food products for the future. Students in the food, nutrition and hospitality program in the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences will work  with Chartwells and Compass. Ultimately three classes will be developed to give  students hands-on experience with the decision making, food creation, marketing and selling of the products in the café.

The beam-signing ceremony was opened by Danny Pugh, vice provost for student affairs and dean of students, who used his time to thank the individuals and organizations responsible for the completion of Founders Hall. Provost Sharon L. Gaber described what the construction of Founders Hall means for the U of A and how it is one of many steps to bring the university to the front of the stage in the 21^st century. Onnissia Harries, Resident Interhall Congress president, addressed life on a growing campus from a student’s perspective and what Founders Hall will mean for current and future students. Florence Johnson, executive director of university housing, went into detail on the building itself and what effects it will have on the campus.

Founders Hall will be a mid-level choice for students on the university’s price-tiered housing system. It will contain more than 114 double or single rooms, providing approximately 214 beds. There will also be 10 study rooms throughout Founders Hall and a lower student to bathroom ratio. The residence hall is projected to achieve 30.2 percent more savings on energy consumption compared to the average hall of that size. The building’s cost of $26.5 million will be split with University Housing paying 75 percent of the total costs, and University Dining paying 25 percent. The building’s expected completion is August of 2013, in time for the fall semester.