Ceremony celebrates new dining facility: Administrators, students break ground for building at “the 90”
September 9, 2014
By Cheyene Miller
Notable members of the UK and Lexington community gathered outside of the Kirwan-Blanding complex Monday morning to hold a groundbreaking ceremony which detailed plans to develop a new state-of-the-art dining facility.
“The 90,” named after the student rendezvous point on South campus of the same name, will cost $32 million and is part of the 15-year, $250 million partnership between UK and Aramark announced Tuesday. Aramark is funding nearly $70 million in new and renovated facilities for dining services across campus.
“It is of the students, and for the students,” said university president Eli Capilouto, who praised his administrative team and everyone who worked on the project. “All of these people have worked long hours over the last few months to arrive at this place.”
Anticipated construction of the new facility is expected to take place between 2014 and 2015, with an opening planned for fall of 2015.
The center will be built over 82,000 square feet at the corner of Hilltop Avenue and Woodland Drive. The facility will include restautants like Taco Bell, Aqua Sushi and the second ever on-campus Panera Bread, a highly-requested venue according to UK student body president Jake Ingram.
“Back when we did research on what new retail venues students would want, Panera was the number-one choice among students,” Ingram said.
As new dorms continue to be constructed and student enrollment rises, it’s important to expand dining options, Ingram said.
“We’ve got really the two main places to eat on this side of campus: Commons and Ovids,” Ingramsaid.
Ingram said the goal was for “25 percent of the food served across campus to be local or Kentucky-grown,” so the university can help expand local business and agriculture.
Also in attendance was Keith Bethel, the president of growth at Aramark higher education, who said food and creating a sense of community were important to the company’s relationship with UK.
“We as a company exist to enrich and nourish lives,” Bethel said.
UK Board of Trustees chair Keith Gannon praised the project’s emphasis on local community enrichment and upcoming emphasis on agriculture and technology. He said that the facility will “provide healthier and more convenient options” for students.
