Martin Dining Hall to be converted into full recreation center and ghost kitchen

Martin Dining Commons, located in North Quad, will be changed into a small recreation center and ghost kitchen, similar to Bell Tower Commons, by the beginning of next semester.

The current building houses a dining commons and convenience store with a to-go pick-up window on the upstairs floor. The basement holds a smaller rec space with a mix of strength and cardio machines, as well as a multipurpose exercise room.

Mike Arnos, senior director of programs and academic partnerships, said the renovations will transform the buffet and seating areas into three primary rooms.

The main room will contain equipment similar to that of the South campus rec center, including strength machines, free weights and treadmills. The second area will be a turf room with 1,000 square feet of space for a sled, kettlebells, plyo boxes and medicine and slam balls. The final room will be a dance studio with hardwood floors, AV equipment and mirrors.

Arnos said that currently, there are no plans to change the basement area, which will be open for informal use and will also be available for organizations like ROTC, fraternities and sororities to reserve for group workouts.

The kitchen will be getting small renovations to make it ready to serve as a ghost kitchen. Cody Powell, associate vice president of facilities planning and operations at Miami, said students have enjoyed the Bell Tower-style dining a lot more than the buffet style.

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“Martin is the least used dining commons on campus,” Powell said. “It makes more sense to put in more fitness space and give students food that they enjoy more than to keep the dining hall open.”

Rhett Butler, a marketing account manager of retail and programming in the Farmer School of Business, said Miami originally planned to shut down the buffet-style dining location. However, the Physical Facilities Department pitched the idea of creating an expanded fitness space on north campus.

“We've been hearing from students for a while about how the fitness center in the [main] rec is not enough space,” Powell said. “Especially around peak hours when students think it's best to work out, people say it is overcrowded.”

Powell said another complaint students have about the rec center is the location. Many students who live on north campus do not like walking across campus to the rec center.

Brynnly Webb, a freshman mechanical engineering major who lives on North Quad, said that when she heard the news of the renovation, she was “so excited” that she wouldn’t have to walk across campus to the rec.

“The rec center is so far from North Quad, having one so close by will make me go more.”

The current hours of operation for the North Quad rec center are limited. It’s open from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and afternoons from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. However, after renovations, Arnos said the goal is for the fitness center to be open seven days a week from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Sydney Daily, a freshman accounting major living in the North Quad, said that she would like the new rec center more if it would be open at similar times to the main rec center, but she was optimistic about the changing dining options.

“I do use pickup [options] more than I go in and sit down to eat,” Daily said. “I just feel like it's quicker, and sometimes the food options aren't the best [at the dining hall].”

Powell said construction is set to take place over the summer, when the majority of students are off campus. The new facility is projected to open by August 25.

gollispd@miamioh.edu