FORT KENT – The University of Maine will update and restructure its dining facilities to be more efficient and better geared to the eating styles of today’s students, according to a $19 million renovation plan approved by the University of Maine System board of trustees on Monday.

As part of the project, which is planned to be completed in 2007, Hilltop Commons and Wells Conference Center will be renovated while Stodder and Stewart commons will be closed, officials from the Orono campus said earlier this week during a trustees meeting at the University of Maine at Fort Kent.

The new facilities will be a departure from the traditional cafeteria-style dining halls that are open only during prescribed times, said Robin Toderian, assistant vice president for auxiliary services at UM.

Instead, they will serve meals that are cooked to order, be open throughout the day, offer a variety of seating instead of only tables and chairs, and feature visible kitchens so diners can watch as their food is prepared.

While Wells would include a glass-enclosed bakery and a coffee bar, Hilltop would house a market and convenience store with prepared foods, cold sandwiches and microwaveable food.

The goal is to provide more nutritious and better-quality food and enable students to have more flexible meal plans to minimize the amount of wasted food.

York Commons will remain the only traditional dining facility at UM, according to the project, which calls for the University of Maine System to borrow the $19 million and lend it to the Orono campus. UM then would pay the money back over 25 years using the savings it reaps through modernizing and consolidating the dining halls, according to officials.

UM’s dining facilities and equipment are obsolete and haven’t been updated in 40 or 50 years, UM President Robert Kennedy pointed out to trustees.

Offering more trendy eating places will enable the flagship campus to be more competitive, he added, noting that when parents and students visit, dining facilities are “the first thing they look at.”

Also under the plan, two kiosks will be set up at undetermined locations so customers can purchase a quick sandwich, and the Marketplace at the Memorial Union will undergo minor renovations.

Janet Waldron, UM vice president for administration and finance, told trustees that the new facilities will address the needs of everyone on campus – including faculty, staff and visitors – unlike the current setup, which focuses mainly on students who live in the residence halls. “We have 13,000 potential food consumers on campus during any given day,” she said. “They haven’t been looked at as customers.”

While designing the project, UM officials visited dining facilities at a variety of universities across the country and solicited input from 85 Orono students who participated in online surveys and personal interviews, said Dawn Aubrey, interim director of dining services for UM.

“The more we talked, the more what we wanted to do became clear,” she said. “This is really going to put us on the map.”