Dining Services Gain Space, Ideas With Move

On June 25, the Harvard University Dining Services officially moved their Purchasing, Retail Operations and Director's offices to their new location at 65-67 Winthrop Street.

The move consolidates those three offices under the same roof for the first time. The Director's Office was formerly located at 399 Harvard Street--underneath the rotunda at the Freshman Union-- while Purchasing and Retail Operations was squeezed into offices at 25 Mt. Auburn Street.

At their new location, the offices have nearly twice as much space, according to Project Manager Alexandra E. McNitt.

They also have a working air-conditioning system, a conference room for meetings, a student reception area and building access for the disabled.

According to Dining Services Director Michael P. Berry, Dining Services administrators spent one year searching for a piece of property. He says the building--located across the street from Pinocchio's Pizza--"is fairly old and was not occupied."

Berry and his offices entered into negotiations with the Harvard Real Estate office, which renovated the building and then signed a 10-year rental contract.

Berry said his staff of 40 "has room for growth" and will be able to provide "more and diverse services such as the access cards which are coming on-line next year."

In addition, McNitt said that with all the services in the same building, the Dining Services are able to "achieve a lot of very fast communication."

According to McNitt, the basement of the new building will possibly be used as a training area for the Dining Services managers.

McNitt said that Berry has a theory of"lifelong learning" for the management staff,production managers, cooks and bakers. The newcomputer and training facilities located in thebasement will provide space for Berry to implementthose "lifelong learning" ideas, McNitt added.

During the almost four years Berry has been atHarvard, he has taken over or started 10 campusrestaurants such as the Biological LaboratoriesCafe and the Green-house Cafe in the ScienceCenter.

According to McNitt, the restaurants havegenerated more than $3 million in revenue.

For Berry, Dining Services' new locationprovides a "professional environment wherestudents and customers can feel comfortable.

McNitt said that Berry has a theory of"lifelong learning" for the management staff,production managers, cooks and bakers. The newcomputer and training facilities located in thebasement will provide space for Berry to implementthose "lifelong learning" ideas, McNitt added.

During the almost four years Berry has been atHarvard, he has taken over or started 10 campusrestaurants such as the Biological LaboratoriesCafe and the Green-house Cafe in the ScienceCenter.

According to McNitt, the restaurants havegenerated more than $3 million in revenue.

For Berry, Dining Services' new locationprovides a "professional environment wherestudents and customers can feel comfortable.