Newly Renovated Dining Common at Bob Jones One of Nation's Largest

Students, faculty and visitors to Bob Jones University are enjoying the newly renovated Dining Common on campus.

Dr. Stephen Jones, president of Bob Jones University, reopened the renovated student dining room of the Dixon-McKenzie Dining Common—the major dining facility on the BJU campus - on Thursday.

The Dixon-McKenzie Dining Common was originally built in 1965. The building was added to an existing Winn-Dixie grocery store. The dining common is one of the ten largest dining facilities in the country operating under one roof.

The renovation of the main dining room which approximates the size of a football field is the culmination of a multi-year project with a projected total cost of nearly $6 million. Work began on the final phase May 6.

A better variety of foods and healthier, fresher food options will be provided through an expanded deli, salad bar and grill. Seating will serve small groups in a café–type seating arrangement to encourage student and student/faculty interaction.

The main dining room was renamed the Kalmbach Room in memory of the late Milton and Ruth Kalmbach of Ohio. It will seat just over 1,100 at one time. There are three other smaller dining rooms in the facility.

The state-of-the-art lighting utilizes heat pipe technology from the computer and space industry to dissipate heat from the LED lighting. The lights have a 60,000 hour life, which equates to almost 15 years at 12 hours/day. The facility is one of the first installations of Prescolite’s new Megalum high output LED downlight.