Facts and features

  • Groundbreaking: September 2006
  • Completion: Early 2008
  • Architect: Sasaki Associates Inc.
  • Located next to Alumni Gym, across from Pettengill Hall and bordering Central Avenue
  • 60,000 square feet — about the size of the entire current Chase Hall facility — and features the second-largest footprint of any campus building after Merrill Gym
  • Harmonizes with traditional Bates architecture by incorporating brick, granite, slate, copper and glass
  • Preserves the distinctive Bates experience of a single, central dining hall where students, faculty and staff can dine together
  • Offers a main dining area to accommodate 754 seats
  • Features a signature fireplace lounge for students to meet and chat from early morning until late at night
  • Wireless network access throughout the building
    Includes mezzanine dining  with 200 seats overlooking the main dining area to provide a place for use in peak times, for those who want a quieter spot to eat, and for student groups to meet
  • Includes an emporium that opens early and closes late to provide light snacks and pre-packaged food
  • Includes five new meeting spaces for student groups, alumni, faculty
    and staff
  • Features the “marketplace” model of serving where Dining Services staff prepare meals at various stations, in full view, which will eliminate lines
  • Gives Dining Services staff proper kitchen facilities designed for efficient preparation of the 4,800 meals served every day
  • Increases the amount of cold and dry storage spaces to achieve savings through the bulk purchase of food
  • Features complete exterior landscaping