Marketplace and Café 77 Renovations

To: Washington and Lee Students, Faculty and Staff
From: K.C. Schaefer, Executive Director of Auxiliary Services

The university plans to re-envision and renovate the campus dining venues located in Elrod Commons - the Marketplace and Café 77 - and dining operations will be adjusted during this project.

Renovation of these two venues, which is part of the university's master plan, will begin during the Washington Break in February 2023. The Marketplace and Café 77 have received minimal updates since Elrod Commons opened nearly 20 years ago. Beginning Feb. 18, 2023, W&L will take the Marketplace and Café 77 offline to begin the first phase of this project, which will continue through summer 2023. Both locations will be back online serving at full capacity for Fall Term 2023.

The second phase of the project will expand seating capacity within the Marketplace and will add considerable outdoor terrace seating surrounding Café 77. This work will involve the structural expansion of the Marketplace in the direction of the Cohen Family Amphitheater, and will take place during the 2023-2024 academic year but will not affect dining operations.

The dining options and menus that are currently available to students, faculty and staff at the Marketplace and Café 77 will continue to be made available at other locations on campus while the renovations are taking place. The employment of our Dining Services staff will not be impacted by these changes; however, some employees may work in a different venue than where they have been traditionally assigned.

Starting Feb. 18, the following changes will occur:

Marketplace operations will move to Evans Hall. Evans will provide a traditional seated dining experience with ample room to accommodate our campus diners. Evans Hall will be open seven days a week with hours from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday - Friday and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
An alternative Café 77 concept called Evans Late Night will be offered seven days a week in Evans Hall from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. Evans Late Night will feature similar menu options to Café 77. Additionally, the entry area to Evans Hall will feature a grab-and-go emporium like what is currently available within Café 77. The emporium will operate 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. Monday - Friday and 8 a.m. to 2 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
All students - including first-year students - will have the option of utilizing their meal swipes in any of the campus dining venues with their standard dining plans. Many of these venues will also feature expanded hours.
Foodside, which has traditionally only offered dinner options, will operate seven days a week and will begin offering lunch as well. Foodside will be open daily 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Fireside's hours will remain unchanged, serving from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., seven days a week. The hours for Brief Stop will also remain the same, with service Monday - Friday from 7:45 a.m. to 2:45 p.m.
E-Café and Tea House hours will also expand during the renovations. E-Café will be open Sunday - Thursday 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and the Tea House will be open Monday - Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
During summer 2023, E-Café will offer expanded hours so that faculty, staff and students remaining in Lexington will continue to have a campus dining option. These adjusted operating hours will be announced during Spring Term. Evans Dining Hall will also remain open for most of the summer.

More information regarding these dining venue renovations will be communicated following Winter Break. Any questions about the upcoming changes or dining options on campus can be directed to diningservices@wlu.edu. We look forward to sharing exciting, reimagined dining spaces with you and continuing to enhance the campus dining experience when the Marketplace and Café 77 reopen in August!