berglunds@lopers.unk.edu

The Graze replaced the Market @ 27th dining hall last summer, which increased the capacity for the students that would be moving from Martin Hall to east campus. With the renovations to Martin Hall, Louie’s Diner will be closing once they are finished.

With an increase in capacity, they do not foresee an overflow.

“When we redid the graze, the first step was to plan for that movement of Greek housing to this side of campus,” said Michael Christen, director of business services at UNK. “So, we did take all of that into account in our designs and in our plans overall.”

In order to properly increase the capacity to where it needed to be, they had to take the number of students in URS and URN and add that to the capacity so The Graze would match those numbers.

“Students will be able to utilize the union for dining needs with the increased space,” Christen said.

The Graze will become the main cafeteria once Louie’s Diner closes on west campus.

“Louie’s Diner will stay open until the moves are made to Martin Hall,” Christen said. “Once that building is shut down and those residents are no longer there in the URN and URS, that is when Louie’s will close.”

The date of Louie’s closure is unsure as of now, it is based on the timeline of the Martin Hall renovations.

When Louie’s closes, there will be a need for a cafeteria in its place for students on west campus.

“We know there will be a need on west campus,” Christen said. “We are evaluating how we can get some options out there for students specifically during the lunch and breakfast period when most students are over there.”