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Design
IUP
Upgrading Dining Options
Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP)
in Indiana, Pa., is undergoing a $37 mil-
lion dining master plan that upgrades
options all across campus.
The plan, called IUP Dining Innovations,
began in 2012, and recently completed the
second of three phases with last year’s open-
ing of Folger Dining Hall, which for the
first time in its more than 40-year history,
is an all-you-care-to-eat facility.
“Folger Dining Hall was previously a
retail dining facility,” said Richard Iams,
resident district manager with Aramark, the
campus foodservice provider. “As part of
the master plan, we are opening two new
residential dining halls, with another that
opens next year. Folger was completely
gutted, completely renovated. It is a huge
building with a few small tenants in the
building, a small post office and print shop.
Besides that, the building really is all for
residential dining now, so it is a conversion
and it is part of that plan.”
Folger was converted from retail of-
ferings after phase one of the project, The
Crimson Café, located on Eleventh Street
across from Sprowls Hall and adjacent to
the IUP Performing Arts Center, opened in August 2014. The
$6.5 million, 400-seat Crimson Café retail dining facility
includes a Starbucks, the Crimson Bistro, Burger Studio and
the Fireplace, plus a selection of grab-and-go items, including
soup, salads, wraps and hot meals.
An overall culinary philosophy is part of all of the new
facilities in the plan. “With all of our new facilities, and spe- special dietary needs area has its own section now, called Hawk
cifically with Folger Dining Hall, our objective was to make
the whole experience far more interactive, with more display
cooking, to bring the food out in front of the students, both
in its preparation and display,” said Iams.
The new Folger features a number of major stations, but
two in particular, according to Iams, stand out for their rep-
resentation of this objective. “The Global Grill is sort of our
center stage where we have a large Mongolian grill, which
graces the floor in the front of the main facility, where we
do both traditional American foods on one side, and we do a
variety of international foods on the other.”
28 | OCTOBER 2016
Photos: Stantec
The international selections were
added to the offerings because of
the increase in that population on
campus. “IUP has a fair number of
international students with large
Asian and Indian populations,” said
Jennifer Braughler, district marketing
manager with Aramark. “We also
added to that station last semester.
We have a sushi machine that is part
of the grill that works alongside the
international portion.”
Pasta La Vista, a pasta and piz-
za station, also represents the new
dining objectives. “We make fresh
pasta from scratch and then cook
it to order for students,” said Iams.
“We also have a very cool industrial
pizza oven. It is actually one that
has giant wheels inside. We are able to cook up to 18 pizzas
at one time.”
Another station is Sandwich Artisan, a made-to-order deli.
“We offer a few custom sandwiches every day,” said Braughler.
“We have some suggestions, but we also have the made-to-
order component with different meats, cheeses and toppings.
The sandwiches can be heated also.”
Olive’s Kitchen features home-style cooking. “It is named
for Olive Folger, who was the dining service supervisor when
the building was constructed,” she said. “We offer traditional
things like meatloaf, mac and cheese, and baked chicken. We
have a rotisserie there.”
When the new Folger opened in September of 2015, Olive’s
also featured an area for students with special dietary needs.
“We expanded that since we opened,” said Braughler. “Our
Hub, so we try to be as friendly as we can to people who need
made-without-gluten and allergy-free foods.”
ON-CAMPUS HOSPITALITY