It was a sad year, when in 2003 Iowa State University’s Friley Hall lost its in-house cafeteria. While tasteless upstart residence halls like Oak Elm and Maple-Willow-Larch each get their own eateries, Iowa State’s largest, most historic and prominent residence hall has gone without one for some 14 years now. It was a shame that the Friley “Windows,” as the facility is called, was ever removed, but I am glad for its impending reinstatement.

This new dining center will go a long way in alleviating the Union Drive Community Center’s mealtime congestion and will provide the west side of campus with another flagship dining facility to wine and dine prospective students and their parents, as well as provide Friley Hall’s hordes of residents with a (slightly) more convenient option.

In fact, were I a freshman living in Friley Hall this next academic year — when the construction will have been completed — I am not sure what corporeal (or celestial) forces could conceivably be strong enough to ever nudge me outside the building itself. Certainly not classes, to be sure.

The construction’s progress looks promising and highlights a view of Lake LaVerne through its 10 or so paneled windows from which the facility takes its name. There has been some concern of the noise caused by the construction, however, and how it might affect students studying for finals. The builders will evidently be “doing their best to reduce noise by planning projects with less noise during those weeks,” but I would not hold my breath were I a resident. I might suggest that Iowa State distribute earplugs to Friley’s inhabitants.

What else is ISU Dining working on? Aside from shuffling around some dining meal plan rates and a few other changes, Subway will be taking its leave from the Memorial Union. “Lancelot and Ellie’s” will be taking its place — a sandwich shop to be operated by ISU Dining. I will reserve my judgment here until the shop opens its doors, but I am hopeful; it would not take a serious investment by the university to at least emulate Subway’s quality, if not surpass it.

The Friley Windows project, however, is an absolute home run. This is one of those developments that will benefit the university’s students just as much as the university itself, and I am glad for that. I hope to see more projects like this in the near future (so long as the university refrains from engaging in out-of-place referendums per the Memorial Union’s proposed renovations), and I hope this project — along with 2020’s coming Student Innovation Center — is just the tip of Iowa State’s future plans iceberg.