After the closing of Kriner Hall two weeks ago, the students and staff on Shippensburg University’s campus are beginning to see small changes to other dining halls due to an influx of students frequenting the remaining open dining options.

“The closing of the Kriner main dining area will impact other areas of dining. I believe that Reisner & the CUB will have increased traffic during peak meal times,” said Bob Kougher, director of Kriner Hall.

“The retail stations in the front of Kriner have had elevated traffic during the first week back from spring break of about 10 percent.” These retail stations are Papa John’s and Sub Generation, two quick stop-in food options that are still open regardless of the construction to the building.

Although Kriner has closed, there are other options on campus for students to enjoy each day. The remaining halls still open are Reisner Hall, The Galley at the CUB, The Century Café and the Snack Shop also located in the CUB. With residence halls being located sporadically throughout campus, it is no doubt that students located on the west side of campus may have to trek a little farther to get their meals.

Gregg Thuemmel, director of Reisner Hall, has noticed a relatively higher amount of traffic to this popular dining option. “We have seen an increase of about 100 to 150 extra patrons each lunch and dinner meal. It is still less then what we feed in the fall semester. We lose about 10 percent of the meal plans from fall to spring.”

Thuemmel and other dining directors across campus realize the need for more options for students because of the closing.

Thuemmel said that Reisner has added more made-to-order specials at the deli line three times per week.

Brenda Kunkleman, the director of retail for The Galley at the CUB also said that more options have been added at the Grab & Go station to accommodate higher traffic during lunch and dinner hours.
“We also increased our snack and beverage options to add more variety to the Sub Gen area,” Kougher said.

Kriner Hall was closed to do construction to upgrade the building’s steam distribution system, which will make the heating on campus more efficient. Kougher explained that the construction has been planned as a part of SU’s master plan calendar for some time now. Although there have been higher amounts of traffic throughout other dining options on campus, the university and directors of food services have had no need to hire extra staff on campus.

“Dining services looked at the traffic counts from Kriner and adjusted staffing, moving our workforce into the other locations to better serve the students. Reisner, under the direction of Thuemmel, has taken all of the spring residential dining events and incorporated them into their menu cycle, which normally would be spread between the two residential dining buildings,” Kougher said.

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