It’s been a busy summer for Texas Tech University Hospitality Services, according to Alan Cushman, the manager of business development for hospitality services.
Along with the construction of West Village and the travels of the StrEat food truck, The Market at Stangel/Murdough was renovated during the summer, the fourth project the department dealt with during the summer. The kitchen at The Market was renovated two years ago, he noted.
Kirk Rodriguez, who was recently promoted as the managing director of hospitality services, said The Market was the first facility to be renovated when hospitality services switched meal programs in 1998.
Cushman said a reason why The Market was revamped is because it’s a popular destination for students to eat.
“We do also see a lot of off-campus student traffic as well,” Cushman said, “so with the popularity of it just made sense to kind of update it, kind of bring some new stuff on campus.”
Rodriguez said the project to renovate The Market took two years.
“We did a lot of work in the beginning,” Rodriguez said, “in terms of the design and the discussions on what kind of project we were after.”
Rodriguez said most of the work was done behind the scenes during spring break, when most students and customers would not notice additional electrical work and placement of plumbing lines. Other, more visible changes were made as well.
“We redid the service lines,” Rodriguez said, “so the style of service is different, and by that there’s more onsite cooking in front of the student.”
Also, Cushman said they brought out the production from the back kitchen to in front of the student’s eyes. Cushman said Hospitality Services increased cooler space for better holding and production, making The Market more sustainable.
Rodriguez said that Hospitality Services strengthened its deal with Daybreak Coffee Roasters. The partnership allows The Market to offer a special brew of coffee specifically made for Texas Tech.
“They are actually a rainforest alliance coffee,” Cushman said, “where they’re getting their coffee beans from a specific farm in Latin America.”
Cushman said one of the exciting changes added to The Market was the introduction of Fazoli’s, which opened on October 1.
Rodriguez said the goal of Texas Tech to achieve 40,000 student enrollment was a factor for expanding The Market. He said hospitality services took that into consideration as they were renovating the facility.
Rodriguez said construction for The Market was on a tight schedule, and some things are still in progress.
“It was a very tight schedule,” Rodriguez said, “but you’ll also see where we will replace and redo the booths, the seating area, those type of things that you’ll see over the course of the semester.”
Rodriguez said there are no plans to further renovate The Market any time soon.
“No,” Rodriguez said, “that is pretty much the finished product. Again, the last remaining piece we’re working with is the Fazoli’s piece and once that is complete, we’re probably about 98 percent complete.”
The other 2 percent?
“There’s always things that the contractor forgot,” Rodriguez said, “or didn’t do like we expected.”
Rodriguez said the overall reaction to the changes has been positive to those who were involved with the project.
“The student feedback,” Rodriguez said, “and student response level has been very positive and sales are showing an increase.
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