Dining Hall Dept. Plans Sweeping Renovations for Union

The University plans radical changes in the physical structure of the Harvard Union to make meals more pleasant and efficient for freshmen, C. Graham Hurlburt, Jr., director of the dining hall department, said yesterday.

While final proposals must a wait financial estimates. Hurlburt said he hopes work can begin immediately after Commencement and end in time for the arrival of the Class of 1968. The chief stumbling block to approval of plans, he said, is the question of how many years it would take for more economical operation to make up the substantial construction costs.

Construction this summer would involve moving the Summer School's dining area.

Hurlburt's proposal would convert the small dining room on the Prescott St. side of the Union into a "free flow cafeteria" where each student would pick up his own food. The second floor serving line and dining area as well as the present serving line would be eliminated completely.

The increased seating area would include space now taken up by the serving lines in the large dining hall and what is now the first floor common room. The dishroom, now in the basement, would be moved to the first floor and supplied with new equipment.

Hurlburt said he expected the interior decoration to remain in about the same style, except that the Prescott St. room would be "brightened up considerably" and long tables would be replaced by smaller ones with more comfortable chairs. In addition, it may be possible to replace the round trays now used with "real plates," and a conveyor belt for dirty dishes would eliminate the present dish window and table.

Hurlburt, who became director of the dining halls system in September, said that renovation of the Union was one of his major goals. He said that his plan will be an "aesthetic improvement," would provide pleasanter and faster service for freshmen, and would be economically more practical.

One of the Union's worst problems, he said, is slow service. While only 15 people a minute are served by the present three lines, the new single "cafeteria" would serve 20 a minute.

Dean von Stade said he has been aware for some time of the need for improvements in the Union. "We haven't actually presented this proposal to the Corporation yet, but we hope that final plans will be ready soon," he said.

There has been little thought thus far about the use of the newly-freed space in the basement and on the second floor, according to Dean von Stade. He said that it is "very unlikely" that some of the extra space might be used for the social center the HCUA proposed last spring.