Inside Iowa State: Iowa State University

INSIDE IOWA STATE
August 31, 2001

MU leaders look for dining options

by Linda Charles
Not enough people are using the Cardinal Room in the Memorial Union to warrant keeping it open, so staff are searching for alternative "formal and quiet" lunch settings.

Two alternatives to the Union's food court have been proposed: purchase lunch in the food court and reserve a room that has linen and water provided at no extra charge, or order catered lunches for small groups at $10 to $12 per person. Both would require a minimum 48-hour notice.

Union staff sent a survey to recent Cardinal Room diners, vice presidents, deans and directors to see if either option would be supported. Based partially on the survey results, a decision on whether to close the Cardinal Room will be made by early September, said Memorial Union executive director Mary Jo Mertens.

Mertens said a major problem with providing lunch in the Cardinal Room is that the kitchen is on a lower level. There is room to put a new kitchen between the Cardinal and Campanile rooms, but that would take thousands of dollars the Union doesn't have.

"This is a hard decision," she said, "but we can no longer subsidize it to the extent we have in the past."

Mertens said one suggestion for the Cardinal Room space is to turn it into a university club. Such a renovation would need to be funded by the university, she said.

Ideas for providing a more formal lunch setting are welcomed and should be sent soon to Mertens, mertens@iastate.edu; Kathy Svec, ksvec@iastate.edu, or Angie Witt, awitt@iastate.edu.