A new Commons Dining Hall and North Wing will be open at Stetson’s venerable Carlton Union Building when students return to campus in mid-August.

More seats for dining and greater food options. Wide-open spaces for gathering. Enhanced views from almost any angle. Lighter, brighter and roomier.

Among the specifics: The new Commons will double the amount of seating and provide several specialized meals stations, where students can custom-order food and watch it be prepared. Stations include a stone-hearth pizza oven, a Mongolian grill, expanded soup and salad bar, and a G8 station that avoids gluten and eight top allergens, such as nuts, shellfish, diary, soy and eggs. Also, there is a new Student Lounge, along with multipurpose student meeting rooms, offices for the Student Government Association and other student groups, and a new studio for the students’ online radio station (WHAT).

Then in early January 2019, the final phase of the CUB project will reach completion, including renovation of the building’s South Wing — ranging from a new Faculty Lounge and a larger Coffee Shop to a second-floor office for Campus Life and Student Success, among other components.

Aside from the numerous interior enhancements, the new CUB will feature a striking new façade, highlighted by a two-story glass wall on the CUB’s east side, where a covered patio dining area and future green space will be located. The open design will enable students, faculty and staff to see across the Commons Dining Room into the kitchen and through the two-story glass wall to the outside.

Originally constructed in 1957, the CUB will remain historic while also representing a progressive future for the university, according to Al Allen, Stetson’s associate vice president of Facilities Management.

“The design in ‘57 was to make this like someone’s home, which is all individual rooms. What the architect has done is he’s kept that look on the outside but opened up the building from the inside,” said Allen before adding a note about finances. “As we incurred reduced expenditures, we applied these savings to items not included in the original scope, such as installing new exterior windows.”

Environmental Efficiencies

In addition to safeguarding dollars, the expansion/renovation will showcase environmental conservation, particularly in the kitchen. The Commons will use dishes made of ethically sourced bamboo and continue using napkin-tower dispensers that have reduced napkin overuse and waste by 62 percent, compared with placing napkin dispensers on every table. And, while the Commons phased out the use of plastic straws last year, Einstein Bros. Bagels and Johnny Rockets in the nearby Hat Rack are switching from plastic to biodegradable straws this fall.

Already, Stetson Dining purchases approximately one-third of its produce from local sources, ensuring freshness and requiring less fuel to deliver. Similarly, meats are produced without hormones, eggs come from cage-free chickens, and coffee arrives from socially and ecologically certified producers.

One other note: A pulper machine has been installed in the new Commons, which will reduce food waste from 12 garbage bags to one bag by extracting all the water. And discussions are underway with local farmers who want to use the food waste for composting or on their pig farms.

Clearly, old and new are coming together at the CUB, circa 2018.