Earlier this year, the Manheim Township school board approved a $1.94 million project to redesign the high school cafeteria. I know I wasn’t the only one surprised to walk into school on the first day to see a brand new design to our cafeteria with various upgrades, including built-in refrigerators for drinks, a pizza oven, and a large salad and wrap bar. With all of these new appliances and the new design I, like most students, expected to see a difference in the line lengths.
In the past, there have been instances when students have had little time left to eat because of the lines’ inefficiency. This was largely due to the awkward way in which the lines were placed and the cramped space. Unfortunately, while the renovation was intended to improve the cafeteria, there seems to be little improvement in regard to the lines. Because of the circular layout of the inside of the cafeteria, multiple lines still end up merging together, making the space just as congested as before. Students have voiced not seeing much of a change from previous years, and still being stuck in long lines for long periods.
“It’s an improvement, but they could have formatted it better,” said senior Sarah Craig.
Any student who buys lunch periodically would agree that the design of the new cafeteria is certainly nicer than it was before. However, it is also limiting. For one, the salad bar and wrap bar in the middle is way too big. The size of the salad bar relative to its position makes it hard for people to get through and around the cafeteria. Senior Adrianna Anujin expressed her dislike for the placement of the salad and wrap bar.
“I hate how the salad and wrap bar is straight in the middle,” she said. “It being in the middle is creating so much congestion.”
Aside from the salad and wrap bar being too large, the position of the registers with respect to the fruits and vegetable stands and the pizza oven makes it hard for students leaving the serving area to get past students who are still getting food, creating even more congestion.
With hundreds of students passing through the cafeteria every day, it is important that the cafeteria allows for students to get in and out as quickly and efficiently as possible. The long lines, inefficient flow, and the larger than necessary salad bar, though intended to improve, have done more harm than good. It begs the question: was the $1.94 million dollars well spent? Though there were large changes made to the cafeteria, were the changes effective?