Twenty-three-year-old Bianca Pegg stares at the bare field where Bethany University’s cafeteria stood before it was destroyed by a fire in June.
“It’s definitely different,” Pegg said while waiting in line outside the temporary eating area in the chapel with about 100 other students. “I had a lot of moments in that cafeteria and now it’s gone.”
Plans are in the works for a new building with a dining commons, a student union and a windowed basement to house an information technology facility and fitness center.
The building is slated for completion in about 18 months, and construction costs are still being determined.
Pegg, who is in her senior year at Bethany, said that the campus seems larger without the 9,000-square-foot cafeteria building — a former barracks from Beale Air Force Base near Marysville that was donated to the school in 1948 by the government.
“The biggest difference I’ve noticed is that students hang out on the grass instead of the cafeteria, where more people used to be before it burned down,” Pegg said. “And it takes longer to get food. I’m not looking forward to the raining season.”
After the fire, the university immediately investigated options with its insurance company, said the Rev. Lewis Shelton, Bethany University’s president.
The cause of the accidental fire had to do with repairs being made to the walk-in cooler and freezer. The blaze caused about $1.2 million in damage.
“We want to try and maximize the opportunity and not just replace a cafeteria,” Shelton said. “The new structure will be a site that fills many student needs.”
While the cost of replacing the building will be fully covered by insurance, any additions, like the student union and fitness facility, are extra.
Donations toward a planned dorm project, now on hold, will likely pay for the extra renovations, Shelton said.
“Right now, we’re trying to move the money with donor permission,” he said.
In the meantime, the university has turned its chapel into a temporary cafeteria. The pews have been taken out, replaced by circular dining tables and chairs. Sloped floors were leveled, the walls were painted, and new lights with fans for circulation were installed.
The adjacent Fireside Room was also gutted and the walls torn down to create a makeshift food services room, where students pile their plates and get drink refills.
Four trailers serve as a temporary kitchen, wash area, freezer and refrigerator, with a diesel-powered generator that provides electricity.
“We had to get creative,” Shelton said, adding that the university is grateful to Epicurean Feast, the company that operates food services under contract.
“They’ve really been heroic,” Shelton said. “We didn’t have to cancel any of the camps held here in the summer.”
The school now conducts chapel three times a week in its theater, where a sprinkler system and fixed seating will soon be installed.
Shelton said Bethany students have been flexible and are adjusting well to all the changes.
“This will be the first new building in 25 years,” Shelton said. “There’s a lot of positive energy on campus. I think the students are excited about the possibilities.”
