Cafeteria renovated for space efficiency

While architects work on interior designs for two new buildings at Genesee Community College, a smaller project has already begun at the Batavia campus.

Probably not quite as visible as what the future event and student success centers will be, the cafeteria space is being completely redesigned, spokesman Rick Ensman said.

“We’re doing a complete overhaul of the kitchen and hot food (vending) area,” he said Wednesday. “It will be a more efficient use of space.”

Construction has included blasting out all of the non-bearing walls to reconfigure and enlarge the vending area and remove any “cubby holes” that were created over time since the original cafeteria was built, he said.

The work will allow students to get through the cafeteria more quickly and efficiently. It’s another layer of food service that last December meant adding a Subway restaurant to the Student Union. Both of these changes are to better serve students, which often includes those taking non-credit courses who stop in to get a snack or cup of coffee.

“Subway is getting a lot of traffic,” Ensman said. “It will be a much more streamlined cafeteria experience.”

As for the $13.9 million event center and $5.2 million student success center, RMZ Architects is designing how everything will look inside. GCC staff is hoping to see those plans by mid-fall and they should be finalized no later than Jan. 31, 2016.

The architects did “an outstanding job vetting ideas and concerns” and incorporating those into a final layout, Ensman said.

The only physical work to be completed so far has been soil borings, or samples, taken to determine the amount and depth of rock in the soil.