Every day as you head to eat lunch, it catches your eye: the sprawling wooden wall in the cafeteria where new renovations are taking place. But have you ever wondered what lies inside? Or what’s being built? Or when construction will be completed? Here’s the inside scoop on the latest addition to our lunchroom.
According to Cafeteria Director Michelle Sagedahl, the renovations are scheduled to be completed by the start of 2026. They include the construction of a new lunch line called “Lakeshore Deli” by the expressway; it will serve salad, paninis, and soup.
Ongoing projects include putting up walls and sheet rock, installing electricity, and finalizing plans for tiling the floors and walls. Tangles of tools, wires, and other equipment were scattered across the site, which was coated in a thick layer of dust and splotches of paint.
Though much progress has already been made on construction, a series of challenges has delayed the opening of the line. “We had a plumbing problem,” Sagedahl mentioned. “Everything has to be licensed and inspected through the state. We had a delay with getting the final inspection approved; that pushed it back a couple of weeks.” Head lunch lady Deborah Hough added, “There might be a delay with steel. The manufacturers who are making the equipment for us can’t get it.”
Unfortunately for the lunchroom, these issues have pushed the opening date of the line back significantly. Instead of the initially planned December, construction is scheduled to be completed in January. Further complicating these plans is the fact that other processes are also required to get the line fully functional. “Once it’s approved, we have to get all the props set for staff to use it,” said Sagedahl. “Since it’s a new line, we need to do some staff training with the equipment, recipe development, and finalization.”
With construction set to finish in just two months, lots of work has yet to be done in order to finalize and perfect all aspects of the new lunch line. However, cafeteria staff remain optimistic about the new addition and hope it will bring students increased options and lower waiting times.
