Sadler Dining Center will undergo a major makeover this year, with a 5,200-square-foot addition scheduled for completion in August.

As the number of students on West Campus grows, there has been a need for a bigger and better dining hall, said Eric Beattie, director of the Office of Campus Planning, Design and Construction.

“This addition is to meet the increased demand for the dining hall seen over the past few years caused by the new ESF residence hall and anticipated increase in patrons from the Campus West apartments and Dineen Hall,” Beattie said in an email.

Built in 1960, Sadler’s dining center opened with seating available for 800 students, according to the Syracuse University Archives’ website. Today, it’s the nearest dining hall for students at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry’s Centennial Hall and for residents at Sadler and Lawrinson halls. These three residence halls house more than 1,400 students, according to SU and ESF’s housing websites.

“I’m sure that Sadler has been much more heavily used in the last two years,” said Brenda Greenfield, executive director of the ESF College Foundation. “For our students at ESF, I’m sure that the expansion would benefit them when they’re using the dining halls now.”

Along with growing by more than a quarter of its current size, the dining center’s interior upgrades will include new flooring, lighting and an accessible entrance, said Dave George, director of Food Services, in an email.

This will make Brockway Dining Center the only dining hall on campus without wheelchair access, according to the website.

The expansion will also bring culinary improvements to Sadler Dining Center, such as a new deli service bar for made-to-order sandwiches, an expanded dessert section and a permanent stir fry cooking station, George said.

“We’re adding popular made-to-order stations, which our customers have been enjoying in other campus locations,” he said.

Sadler Dining Center currently only has one made-to-order station that alternates on a daily basis.

The expansion is expected to shorten lines and increase the amount of seats by adding an entirely new dining room to the hall, he said.

Students said they have felt the effects of overcrowding in Sadler’s dining hall, and many feel the expansion has been long overdue.

“Usually around 7:30 p.m. it gets so crowded in here that you can’t even find space to sit down,” said Sarah Kelly, a freshman painting major. “Sadler definitely needed this. I think it’s way too small to support all the students from all the dorms and ESF.”

Erika Sertl, a freshman wildlife science major at ESF,said the shorter lines would help decrease the amount of time spent getting food.

“Sometimes I’m worried I won’t have time to eat because of how long the lines are, so it’d definitely be great,” she said.

Sadler already went through renovations last summer, converting the bathrooms to single-occupant bathrooms and refurbishing several bedrooms. With the dining hall’s upgrade, students said they are feeling more optimistic about the residence hall.

“Personally, I don’t eat here that often. I mostly eat at Ernie Davis Dining Hall because the food’s better,” said Daritzya Barajas, an undeclared freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences. “I think I’d be more likely to eat at Sadler with the additions because it brings so much more variety to Sadler.”

Published on March 3, 2013 at 11:31 pm

Contact Alfred: alng@syr.edu

@alfredwkng