Houstonian: Dining facility 'zones' out 68 spaces in commuter lot

From the Houstonian:

A new dining facility scheduled to be built inside the student parking lot in front of the Estill Building will provide dining on the south side of the campus.

Associate Vice President for Finance and Operations Jacque Gilliam said...the location was chosen by the chancellor of the Board of Regents, and will feature a Pizza Hut, Montagues and Java City along with a restaurant called Home Zone that will sell boxed lunches to accommodate students with board plan dining arrangements.

Vice President of Finance and Operations Jack Parker said the university has been planning the new facility for a while.

"We took it to the Board of Regents last year and it formally approved for construction the contract award Feb. 27 or 28 during the quarterly meeting," Parker said.

The new facility will be 5,000 square feet and include kitchen, dining and storage areas, and will have outside dining tables.

Gilliam said rumors that the new facility would be in the former White Hall cafeteria are inaccurate and were "never in the plans." She said it would be inefficient since all the pipes had been removed from the facility and that the room would have to be renovated.

Gilliam also said White Hall's cafeteria and most other dining areas like the Paw Print are underground, and that the university wants to have something more open and visible to the public.