The dining hall at Monmouth College will soon reopen after a fire caused extensive smoke damage throughout Stockdale Center.
The Oct. 6 fire started in dry goods storage area near the dining hall.
The exact cause of the fire has not yet been determined.
Duane Bonifer, associate vice president of communications and marketing, said the brick building itself did not sustain much damage, but much of the interior had to be gutted due to extensive smoke damage.
Now after months of using Mellinger Commons in the Center for Science and Business to feed the student body, a remodeled dining hall is set to reopen to students on Feb. 1.
“But progress will continue, and work will continue, for many months on what’s essentially a complete remodel of the interior of a building that was opened in the mid-1960s,” Bonifer said.
Renovations to the rest of the building, including meeting rooms and a lower level, will continue over the next year.
Bonifer said students have been incredibly patient throughout the process, and the college sought their opinions so the building could better serve them.
“College students, their needs and wants, have changed a lot since the last time it was renovated, more than 20 years ago. So now it’s an opportunity to refashion it for the needs that today’s students have,” Bonifer said.
That will include more open and lounge spaces for students in Stockdale Center.
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