A&M-Victoria starts construction on new food court
Texas A&M University-Victoria has begun construction inside its student center building to create an on-campus dining area for students, employees and the community.
Toward the end of August, as the semester was beginning and students were settling into their residence halls, the university partitioned off a section of University Commons and began building out a food court area. The space will be 4,000 square feet with multiple food stations and seating for about 75 individuals, as well as a variety of to-go options. This new dining location is planned to replace the current dining location inside Jaguar Hall.
“The idea is to bring dining closer to our freshman and sophomore students and make it a more cohesive part of the campus environment,” said Matt Alexander, director of Capital Projects.
The project is slated to be completed by the start of the spring semester in January. While construction is ongoing, customers can still access the Jaguar Java coffee shop by entering the side door of University Commons.
The new dining area will feature a variety of food options, including an action station with three burners where students can get custom, made-to-order meals, such as omelets, stir-fry and more. There also will be stations for drinks, a salad bar and a soft serve ice cream machine, said Erick Meland, director of Dining Services.
“I’m excited to have a new facility under development for the university’s students and employees,” Meland said. “This will be a great expansion of our dining options in a central location, which will make it easier for both our students and employees to take advantage of the good food we’ll be serving.”
While the primary purpose of the new dining location will be to serve students and employees, it also will be open to the public, just like the current Jaguar Hall Dining location.
Texas A&M University-Victoria, located in the heart of the Coastal Bend region since 1973 in Victoria, Texas, offers courses leading to more than 50 academic programs in the colleges of Business, Education & Health Professions, Liberal Arts & Social Sciences, and Natural & Applied Science. A&M-Victoria provides face-to-face classes at its Victoria campus, as well as online classes that students can take from anywhere. The university supports the American Association of State Colleges and Universities Opportunities for All initiative to increase awareness about state colleges and universities and the important role they have in providing a high-quality and accessible education to an increasingly diverse student population, as well as contributing to regional and state economic development.