Get your meal cards ready.

As the scheduled Oct. 27 deadline for the opening of the renovated College-in-the-Woods Dining Hall approaches, members of Physical Facilities say the project is running as planned.

Karen Fennie, spokeswoman for Physical Facilities, said that although the schedule is always tight, the contractor has met most of the project’s deadlines. The renovation cost was $375,000 ‘ not including the kitchen equipment ‘ and will likely stay within the original $500,000 budget.

Like the previous Newing College Dining Hall renovation in 2005, the endeavor was aimed to make CIW more student-friendly, convenient and aesthetically pleasing.

New additions include a Southwestern style cuisine station named Ultimate Baja, a new salad bar and a reformatted deli with artisan breads, paninis and hot subs that may be spread to other locations on campus if it’s received well, according to Bob Griffin, marketing manager for Sodexho.

‘We’re very excited about it,’ Griffin said. ‘I think students will be very pleased. It’s really a very nice renovation project as far as giving back to the students a brand new feel to that facility.’

According to Fennie, further refurbishments include new carpeting, lighting, tables and chairs to the facility.

‘The layout was adjusted to help with the flow in the facility,’ Fennie said.

Some students said they were excited for the reopening of the dining hall, not only to see the new facility, but also because it will save them time getting food.

‘Not having a dining hall created a real hassle when I just wanted to get a bite to eat quickly,’ said CIW resident Rachel Jacobs. ‘It’ll be nice to be able to have a meal without trekking across campus.’

Others said the opening will also make it easier on students living in other communities.

‘It will be refreshing to have a normal amount of people in our dining hall and to no longer have an overabundance of people everywhere making it difficult to get your food and go,’ said Sarah Khan, a student living in Mountainview College.

According to Griffin, the Sodexho faculty is always looking for student opinion on their work, since they have no way of knowing if students are satisfied with projects unless people take the time to express their opinions.

‘Students [need to] keep giving constructive feedback, to use our Web site and keep us informed of what their opinions and thoughts are,’ Griffin said. ‘That’s the only way we get better. I know we’re not perfect, but the only way we’re ever going to get there is if we’re hearing from our customers,’ said Griffin.