A woman at the door carried a plate of hors d’oeuvres and offered one to anyone coming to swipe in. Balloons hung from the stations. Clearly, the Inn & Conference Center (ICC) dining hall staff were eager to put on a show for its inaugural meal.
Last Monday, the ICC opened its new dining hall to the students of UMass Lowell. Previously, any hungry students would have to go to the junior grand ballroom on the second floor and pick their food from makeshift stations. While this was not a bad way to eat—the workers there were extremely nice and the food choices were limited but good—it simply could not sustain all of the students living at the ICC. Meals in there were quick and eerily quiet; many students went to Fox Hall to eat dinner.
This new addition has seemingly changed that.
The new dining hall is much larger than one would expect it to be; seating is on two levels in a room that utilizes every inch of space. It also encourages patrons to stay a little longer than they normally would. There are three TVs in total: two placed above the bar on the first level, and a rather large one on the second level. An improvement is that there are now more utilities, including a juice dispenser and an ice cream machine.
It is worth mentioning that the entrées are basically the same as they were in the old dining hall. There is a hot soup section, a salad station, rotating hot entrées, and a made-it-your-way section.
The interior may appear to be set for a high-school based sitcom: it is neat and compact, and aesthetically very lovely. Sculptures of fruit align one of the walls, and the walls are bright and modern. There is a bar for students to sit down at, eat their meals and watch some television. All of the entrée choices are contained on one structure, much like a high school lunch station, except, of course, the food is more extravagant here. On to the side are desserts, cereal, and drink options. The design is efficient and user-friendly.
Here is a little pro-tip: from 9 p.m. to midnight, students can come into the Rowdy Zone where they can order food from a menu and pay with River Hawk Dollars. Though the wait can be long, it is certainly worth it! The ICC is encouraging people to hang out in their dining hall, so students may as well take them up on their offer.
Students stepping in for the first time were amazed by how much work was done in such a short time.
“It seemed like the construction crew just showed up last week and now it’s done!” one student remarked. A crew was parked on the first floor near the check-in every day for about two weeks, working tirelessly. It is extremely impressive to consider the quality of work that they did in such a short time.
The atmosphere in there is infectious: people talk, smile and laugh more than they did in the other dining hall. Although the quiet in the previous hall was very nice, it is a lot less lonely in the new dining hall; the ICC has done its student population right with this addition. Even though it was not done on time, the benefits given to students in the meantime made up for it. Hopefully, more students will come in and take advantage of the opportunity they have been given. ICC residents’ friends might even come to them for dinner instead of the other way around.
