Students will soon have more options for food, which may include not having to hike halfway across campus to get it.

The Board of Regents approved the project and floor plans, which were mailed to the students on campus. The renovation plan for the Maple-Willow-Larch dining center is moving forward.

“I think it will be great for the students that live on the east side of campus to have a facility on the same level as the west side of the campus,” said Carol Petersen, associate director of ISU Dining.

As part of a proposal by ISU Dining, the MWL and Oak-Elm dining centers are going to be renovated on a $15 million budget, $12 million from grants and $3 million earned by ISU Dining, said Nancy Levandowski, director of ISU Dining.

Rohrbach Associates PC is the architectural firm working on the project.

The MWL floor plans reveal a facility similar to the Union Drive Marketplace in an arrangement that involves stations instead of lines.

“What will happen is with the different sections, people will actually be able to go and get more variety of choices,” Levandowski said. “The food will be getting cooked more to order, so they will have it their way. It won’t be like the mystery food coming from the back; you can actually see them cooking it now.”

The stations are named and have specific styles of food for each station, according to the plans. The Wood Grill will have grilled sandwiches, meats and sides. The Olive Branch will serve Italian. Hickory’s will have smoked meats and “home-cooked” foods.

The Bushel Basket will host salads and deli. The Breakfast Nook and Cocoa Bean will be the home of the breakfast foods and ice cream stations.

The renovated facility will seat 560. It will be updated to code to allow disability access and public restrooms.

Levandowski said they were also planning on giving the facility more light through windows and lighting.

“Basically, what we’re trying to provide in [the updated] facility, the [current] infrastructure of that building cannot support,” Levandowski said. “We’re trying to provide a service to them that is comparable to why everyone goes to the Union Drive Marketplace.”

“That is hopefully something that when we have Maple-Willow-Larch done and Oak-Elm done, that will take some of the heat off of Union Drive Marketplace,” Peterson said.

The MWL dining center will close in May 2008 and is planned to open again in August 2009. Then Oak-Elm will be renovated. During this time, the unused dining center at Linden Hall will open and provide services similar to the current MWL dining center, Peterson said. This will be to help make up for one of the other dining centers closing.

The C-Store at Maple-Willow-Larch is one of the first things going in for renovation and will be called the East Side Market. A temporary C-Store will open one level up and serve until the new East Side Market opens in fall 2008. It will provide smoothies, a pizza program and deli.

Other changes are also being considered, Levandowski said. The MWL facility might have brunch and dinner hours on Saturday and Sunday. A fourth meal plan time could come into effect at the renovated Oak-Elm with after-supper hours, termed “moon time” by Levandowski.

“The best part is the first day you walk in and the students walk in and they go ‘Wow.’ That’s the best part, when the first students come through the door,” Levandowski said.