The Fresh at Carmichael Dining Center reopened for service on Jan. 14 following a required closure due to flooding toward the end of the fall semester.
The dining hall first closed on Nov. 11 after a backup in the drainage system caused flooding in multiple areas. Many food items were thrown out, and much of the center needed to be sanitized.
Tufts Dining also had to quickly find ways to incorporate gluten-free and tree nut-free items into their menus at other dining locations.
Further drainage blockages caused multiple intermittent closures until the dining hall was declared closed for the remainder of the semester for necessary repairs on Nov. 30. Patti Klos, director of Tufts Dining, explained the renovations.
“[Facilities] had to excavate down about four feet, all by hand. … Upon uncovering the problem, they discovered that a related challenge in that space, which was originally built around 1954, is that there’s a certain pitch to a drain line that is optimal and for that location, it was not optimal,” Klos said. “We discovered that we needed to excavate more linear feet to be able to get the right pitch. In that process, we discovered another line break, which affects the beverage equipment and the servery.”
All of these issues were addressed during renovations over break and are expected to prevent future drainage and pipe-related problems. According to Jennifer D’Angora, building trades supervisor at Tufts, some unexpected challenges occurred during the renovations.
“When we began excavating, we discovered close to 12 inches of concrete to hammer through, which was much thicker than expected. Additionally, when we were almost finished with excavation, we discovered a deteriorated soda line that needed to be repaired,” D’Angora wrote in a statement to the Daily. “While both developments were unexpected, we were able to address them and stay on schedule for re-opening Carmichael as this semester’s classes [began].”
Beyond serving as a dining hall, Carmichael is a staple for some students, particularly those with dietary restrictions or residents of the Carmichael, Miller and Houston dorms. First-year Charles Whiteman explained how the closure affected his routine last semester.
“Moving into my dorm at Houston, Carm was right over there. It kind of just became a habit of mine to wake up and go to Carm,” Whiteman said. “A lot of my classes were on the upper yard over by [the Reservoir Quad] and … [President’s Lawn], so it made a lot of sense for me to go to Carm before [and] after class.”
“I’d be going to other dining halls at further distances to eat food I don’t like as much, and it would make things like DoorDash or GrubHub seem all the more alluring,” Whiteman added.
Carmichael will continue to operate as the gluten, peanut and tree nut-free dining hall. Klos explained that there are no major changes to the center’s system or purpose.
“It’s still peanut-free, nut-free [and] gluten-free. If anything, I hope, we’ve improved the menu. We’ve moved into our winter season. You may see some new things on the menu, not because we had to make a change because of the plumbing issue, but because over the winter months, we feature more root vegetables,” Klos said.
“Now that it’s … coming back, it gives me a better reason to wake up in the morning and go,” Whiteman said. “It removes the need for me to Instacart or DoorDash groceries or something like that. It brings back a whole new part of Tufts that I had lost for a while.”
D’Angora thanked those who worked on the renovations on behalf of the facilities and dining teams and students who experienced disruptions.
“We appreciate the patience and understanding of students who were inconvenienced by the unexpected closure at the end of last semester, all the efforts and partnership of the Dining team and the dedication of the Facilities staff who came in during the winter break and on weekends to stay on deadline,” D’Angora wrote.
