By Dave Msseemmaa
Associate EditoThe cafeteria will be closed next school year following the withdrawal of
the food service company contracted by the college. Replacing the lunch lines will be
vending machines – and lots of them.
The new vending machines will be located in the same location as the current cafeteria downstairs in Building C, at first. Sometime in Spring 2002, Building C will be emptied, sending the vending machines to the tunnel in Buildings D and E.
“Our foodservice decided to leave us,” said Frank Papke, Vice President of Business Services. “With our construction coming up, the only option we saw from the college standpoint was vending machines.”
The construction would make the kitchen unusable and Papke said there is no way the college could hire a foodservice company for just a few months.
“It’s impossible for us to tell a new vendor, ‘Hey, come out here and be our vendor, but you can’t use the kitchen,’” said Papke.
The last day for the cafeteria as we know it is scheduled to be Aug. 9, the last day of summer classes. Before fall classes begin, a vending company, yet to be hired, will bring machines that will offer a wide variety of snacks and lunches, said Papke.
“We’d like to offer sandwiches, chips, candy bars, lots of stuff,” said Papke. “Some of if would be microwavable, some refrigerated – just variety. This is what we want to get; I haven’t spoken to vendors yet.”
The current foodservice company, the Illinois Department of Human Resources Business Enterprise Program for the Blind, withdrew from their contract, set to expire in December 2004. They gave the required 180-day notice and cannot be penalized for leaving.
The closing of Building C in Spring 2002 will be a logistics nightmare, said Papke. The vending area, moved to the tunnel during that time, is just one of the student services that will be moved from its long-time home location.
“Keeping all of the services that need to keep running requires huge amounts of planning,” said Papke. “It’s displacing all of the student services.”
That means the administrative offices, student organization offices, cashier, admissions and records, and perhaps even the library will move.