Diners who plan to enjoy the convenient location and quiet atmosphere of the Cardinal Room in the Memorial Union this fall may have to find a new noontime destination.

Budget problems and low attendance have prompted Union staff to consider closing the restaurant aspect of the room this fall, said Kathy Svec, Union marketing coordinator.

The nearly 50-year-old lunch restaurant was open to the public, Svec said, but was mainly used by faculty and staff seeking a formal dining experience.

MaryJo Mertens, Union executive director, said the room never was profitable and cost the Union about $20,000 each year.

“It was a deficit – always has been – and it appears to be getting worse. We don’t believe the other departments in the Union need to be supporting it,” she said.

Svec said the room’s daily attendance last year ranged from four to 25 customers. The room can hold 50.

“Usage had really dropped for some reason,” she said.

Menu creation has been a challenge, Svec said, as food prepared in the main kitchen downstairs was carried up to the room before it was ordered.

“Sometimes you could hold quality and sometimes you couldn’t,” she said. “[Catering] wanted to do a better job than they could do.”

Union staff are open to suggestions for the creation of a new, quiet dining atmosphere. They considered leaving the room open over the lunch hour, with linen and water provided. Another option, Svec said, would be a faculty club subsidized from an outside source.

“We feel there is a need for people to eat somewhere beside the commons area, but we’re stumped,” she said.

For now, the room is still open, though reservations must be made 48 hours in advance.

“Truly, a group of two is enough,” she said.