“By creating a modern servery, air conditioning the facility, and significantly increasing the seating capacity, we will have a dining hall and kitchen that reflects our core values.”
Dr. Peter Quimby ‘85
Headmaster
On Friday, February 17, Headmaster, Peter Quimby '85 announced the renovation and expansion of the Jacob Dining Hall. This new wing will house an entirely new kitchen on the lower level, and a modern servery on the upper level. Ground-breaking for the project is scheduled for Monday, March 5, 2012 and the renovated dining hall is expected to open in the fall prior to the beginning of the school’s 250th year. No interruption in dining services is expected for the remainder of this school year.
With this renovation, the main section of the existing dining hall will be devoted entirely to seating, and the access to the west wing of the dining hall will be opened to improve traffic flow and maximize seating. The lower level of the existing facility would be completely renovated to include modern dry storage and cold storage spaces, locker rooms for the dining hall staff, and new HVAC systems. These changes will dramatically improve the quality of life for both our students, and faculty and staff. “The new addition and renovation of existing space will allow Dining Services to fully support the mission of the Academy,” said David Alonzi, Director of Dining Services. “The new servery will feature multiple live-cooking stations and offer more choices for our entire community.”
Added President, Board of Trustees, Jeffrey Gordon ’69: “As a residential school, our dining facility is literally and figuratively at the core of our campus. Remarkably, the current kitchen and dining hall in Phillips have been in service for more than seven decades. In fact, it is essentially the same facility that served a school of about 300 boys when I was student in the late 1960s. It would be an understatement to say that its renovation, improvement, and expansion are long overdue.
The Board of Trustees is delighted to take the lead in the financial support of this exciting project, and together with other significant donors, we look forward to beginning the Academy’s 250th celebration year with the reopening of this critical space on our campus in September, 2012.”
To follow the real-time progress of the project, please click here.
To access the full set of designs for the project, please click here.
The project architect is CBT out of Boston, Massachusetts. The construction manager is Shawmut Design and Construction, also located in Boston. Kitchen design consultants are Colburn & Guyette out of Pembroke, Massachusetts.
