When Stetson University students return to campus in August, there will be a few changes in the Commons Dining Hall as work continues on the expansion and renovation of the Carlton Union Building.

The kitchen and serving area of the Commons is closing May 13 and will relocate temporarily during the $30 million renovation of the CUB. For the 2017-2018 academic year, the former Coffee Shop is becoming the serving area, and meals will be prepared in a temporary-kitchen building, just east of the CUB.

Dining tables will continue to be available in the Commons, and students also can eat in the Community Lounge on the first floor of the CUB or at one of the tables outside the CUB.

In order to give students additional dining options, Lindsey Bishop of Stetson Dining says starting in August a food truck will park in front of Chaudoin Hall (across from the CUB).

“In May, just after graduation, phase two of the CUB project begins,” said Al Allen, associate vice president for Facilities Management at Stetson. “Phase two includes demolition of the existing kitchen and the existing serving area to make way for a new kitchen and new serving area, new dining space and exterior patio.”

When completed in late 2018, the project will greatly expand the Commons with a glass wall along the back overlooking a covered patio and a green area to the east. Inside the dining hall, the ceiling will be two stories high and the food serving areas will look into a new and expanded kitchen.

Overall, the project will enlarge the CUB by 30,000 square feet, with the vast majority of the new space designed for students and student organizations. The CUB originally was constructed in the 1950s, and the renovation and expansion are needed to better serve Stetson students and accommodate enrollment growth to more than 3,000 undergraduate students.

There are other changes for August. The campus bookstore currently in Griffith Hall is scheduled to move back to the renovated first floor of the north wing of the CUB. It will be a larger bookstore and connect to a new convenience store, post office and copy center for students.

Once the bookstore opens in the CUB, workers will begin renovating Griffith Hall. The plan is to relocate the Student Health Service, Counseling Center, and Religious and Spiritual Life offices to Griffith Hall over the 2017-2018 semester break.

The Hat Rack, including Einstein Bros. Bagels and Johnny Rockets, will operate through the CUB renovation project.  The patio north of the Hat Rack will be used for food storage.

The current kitchen and serving area closes after Commencement on Saturday, May 13. The same day, the Stetson Room on the second floor of the CUB closes for renovation. The temporary kitchen building and serving area will be put into use by June 9 when summer camps begin at Stetson, Allen said. The temporary kitchen will be a fully operational industrial kitchen that maintains strict food safety and sanitation requirements while providing the variety of food options currently offered.

In addition to CUB renovations, Stetson also is constructing a 3,840-square-foot addition with 14 beds for the Zeta Tau Zeta chapter of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. The new building is taking shape off Bert Fish Drive and Pennsylvania Avenue, right beside the fraternity’s existing house at 208 E. Pennsylvania Ave., which is being renovated.

The chapter of Lambda Chi Alpha, founded in 1949 at Stetson, raised $1.5 million for Stetson scholarships and an endowment in return for the university building the addition. The construction will be completed by the time students arrive back on campus in August for the start of the Fall 2017 semester.

-Cory Lancaster