Can you imagine...they are remodeling the "new" school that was built long after we were at the "old" SHS. How would it be to have our prom in the new cafeteria?
Nancy...
New SHS cafeteria -- even panini is available!Christina...
Makeover on the menu
Fresh paint, sparkly seating put Springfield cafeteria in new lightBy Anne WilliamsPublished: Thursday, October 11, 2007 - The Eugene Register-Guard
SPRINGFIELD — On an afternoon marked by gray skies and passing squalls, Springfield High School sophomore Matthew Metzler and his two buddies would have been hard-pressed to find a more pleasing lunch spot on Wednesday.Bathed in warm light from pendant lamps resembling birds in flight and ceiling panels with a summer sky design, the boys sat next to a window at a high, small table in brand new bar-style chairs, enjoying various combinations of pizza, sandwiches, macaroni salad, potato chips and chocolate milk.But this was no cozy off-campus deli. It was the school cafeteria, known as “the commons” — a formerly dreary, cavernous space transformed over the past year into a cheery, attractive gathering spot.The final push came late last week, when administrators locked the doors, papered over the windows and let contractors work their magic. When kids came in Monday, gone were most of the institutional, rectangular tables, the fluorescent lighting and the drab gray walls. In their place were sparkling booths (the seats are made from a glittery laminate of blue or gold); small, round tables; the new lighting; and walls brightly painted in gold, avocado green and sky and navy blue.Designed with a “bring-the-outdoors-inside” theme, one wall sports a series of artsy panels depicting figures engaged in a variety of sports- and arts-related activities, such as playing the violin, performing onstage and playing basketball.“I really like it,” said Metzler, who occasionally goes off campus for lunch. “It seems like there’s more elbow room. Even though it’s more crowded, it’s more comfortable. And it feels like you’re sitting outside with those (sky panels).”Table-mate Ethan Daniken’s only criticism was that the school didn’t do it sooner: He’s a senior whose light class schedule means he’s often sprung before lunchtime.“This is a lot better,” he said.School officials hope the new look — coupled with a bigger, better selection in the lunch line, including panini and a make-your-own sub sandwich bar — will keep more students on campus, where they’ll presumably make less mischief, boost food-service coffers and maybe even eat a healthier meal.So far, the feedback has been promising.“The student response has overwhelmingly just been, ‘Wow!’ ” Principal Chris Reiersgaard said. “It’s a completely different place. I don’t think there’s a cafeteria around the area like it.”Cafeteria workers like it, too, and say sales have picked up this week.“It’s a beautiful space,” cafeteria manager Diana Abell said. “A high school that I toured the year before last, they had just remodeled their cafeteria, and it was still dull and plain, like it was 50 years old. This is so much nicer.”The latest stage follows last winter’s unveiling of the Apollo Cafe, a nook adjacent to the main commons that sports faux leather chairs, a flat-screen television, attractive artwork and walls painted rich tones of dark green and maroon. A snack bar separate from the main lunch counter offers a variety of a la carte items, including fruit smoothies. (Remember the old student lounge upstairs above the office and the front entrance in the old school?)The $83,000 Apollo Cafe project was spearheaded by student leaders and funded half by the district and half by Chartwells, an international food-service company that has contracted with the district since last year.The district then earmarked $300,000 — $150,000 each for Springfield and Thurston high schools — in carryover funds from the food services operation, which has historically been one of the most profitable in the region. Thurston is still in the planning process.Springfield High pulled together a group of at least 17 students, representing “a cross-section of every kid on campus,” Reiersgaard said. Students and staff members met with designers from Interior Systems Inc., the California-based firm hired for job.“Kids really liked the idea of the booths and the different lighting,” said student body President Blake Weber, a senior and member of the group. “It felt so industrial in here and gray and just not inviting at all.”While she predicted more students will eat in the commons, especially with the weather turning, she confessed she usually brings her lunch or eats off campus.“It gets really full in here,” she said.Not all students are fans of the refurbished space. Seage Van Tassle, a junior, said she doesn’t care for the color scheme, and misses having long, communal tables in the northwest corner that she and her friends frequented.“(The booths) kind of separate us,” said Van Tassle, who is on the school newspaper staff. “This has been our corner for a while. It’s kind of a territorial thing.”She and her friends reeled off a long list of ways they think the money could have been better spent: new seats for the theaters, a new camera for the newspaper, new books for the library.It's not our beautiful "old" school. Is anyone interested in touring the "new" school during the reunion weekend? Maybe we can eat in the new cafeteria. I am....!Pictures courtesy of Christina
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