Dining Services recently submitted a plan for the renovation and expansion of the KU dining hall, according to Paula Smith, the director of Dining Services.

The plan, which must first be reviewed and approved by Dr William. Schuerman, vice president of student development and dean of students, and the Board of Trustees, calls for a redesign of the food court and an expansion of the seating capacity through an addition to the building.

'The food court would be gutted,' Smith said. 'It would be larger than what we're currently operating under. The key objective is the square footage devoted to the food court right now'what we're using for the food court is just too small.'

According to Smith, Dining Services hopes to receive approval by December so that construction can be completed in time for the Fall 2006 semester.

Though far from certain, the plan that has been submitted does call for several changes to the food court that Smith said are things that students have asked for.

'For example, we would have a char-grill'a gas flamed char grill,' she said. 'We don't have that right now. We are also going to have a wok station. We don't have that right now.'

'What we're trying to do is just to implement cooking techniques, add more offering that are more comparable to 2005 dining out. And that's what we're going to try to do.'

The seating capacity would also be expanded to allow for the larger food court, though Smith said that this was of secondary importance in the current plan.

'We were going to lose seats, so we need to add seats,' she said. 'And the only way to do that is to really add an addition.'

Smith said that two versions of the addition have been created, both functionally similar. The second, however, is more architecturally ornate than the first with a more rounded design. It also comes with a higher price tag.

Smith said that, despite the expansion, the restriction on freshmen being able to eat in the dining hall between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. would probably have to continue.

'The food court can never be big enough,' she said. 'It's in the center of campus, so it's the logical place that they want to go to lunch.'

As for the fate of the Pub in a redesign such as this, Smith said that it simply hasn't come up yet, and that it is not yet included in the plans one way or another.

'That part has not been discussed,' she said. 'That piece has never been discussed in any settings I've been in.'

Smith said that, in her opinion, one of the functions of the KU food court is to host entertainment, and because of the tradition that it entails, she sees no reason why such a use would not continue.

'[As for] the specific serving of alcohol on Friday afternoon, I see no reason why it wouldn't continue,' she said 'But that's just from my perspective that it's a service that's been there ' ever since '87, so I don't see that that would be discontinued.'

Even if the Pub does not exist in its current incarnation due to a need for seating, Smith said that she still could see the same services being offered if students want them.

'If the long-standing tradition is to have this happy hour on Friday, there's mechanisms to still offer that, but not necessarily with that bar in the corner,' she said. 'I would say that if this concept gets approved, the discussion of the exact use, configuration, some of those things associated with some of these services, that would probably be discussed in more depth.'

Whatever the final result of the process, Smith made it clear that everything still exists in a preliminary stage. If the project is not approved, the changes will not take place at all. Even if it is approved, construction would not start any time in the next few months. Still, Smith did say that she is hopeful about the prospects.

'New equipment and things today are just better than they were in 1987,' she said. 'We're hoping [for] it to be an exciting place to go, an exciting place to eat, and so that's the goal.'