The dishwasher in Eickhoff Hall is in need of repair, but the process has been stalled because of the high cost of replacing the worn down machine.
In the Student Government Association (SGA) column of the Nov. 29 Signal, Meagan Terry, dining services liaison, said the 14-year-old dishwasher has been broken for two weeks. In the article, Terry said the total cost of replacing the dishwasher is $75,000, but with added installation costs, that price is close to $500,000.
Terry said in an e-mail that part of the reason for the added costs is the price of renovation for the room the dishwasher is in. According to Terry, the room has a bad drainage system. Because of this, both the floor of the room and the ceiling of the room under it need to be replaced.
Terry added that the walls need to be either replaced or repaired.
"In general, there are always costs of installing a new piece of large equipment besides the cost of the equipment itself," Steve Hugg, director of Marketing and Business Development for Sodexho, said.
Toni Pusak, assistant director of Auxiliary Services, said the renovations were included in a project plan submitted to the College.
Pusak said proposed projects are submitted for review, prioritized and put on a list of pending projects.
She said replacing the dishwasher and renovating the room the dishwasher is in is on the list of projects.
Pusak said the dishwasher in Eickhoff is the same one used when Eickhoff was built. However, she said the dishwasher is not particularly old, since dishwashers usually last about 15 to 20 years.
"(The dishwasher) has had a lot of use, especially with the Carte Blanche program," Pusak said. "It's starting to wear down."
She said if a new dishwasher were added in addition to the existing one, the room they are in would need to be expanded.
One innovation that could come from the renovations, if they occur, is a conveyor belt system.
Terry said that if the dishwasher were replaced, "(Sodexho) would want to incorporate a conveyor belt system for students where we'd put our trays on the belt and they would be carried along to the dishwasher room."
"This is something that (the College) administration . needs to be pushed by students for, since it obviously affects everyone who eats on campus," Terry said.
