A new addition to the University Tower Apartments on the corner of Third Street and Brandeis Avenue will give the area directly west of the University of Louisville‘s Belknap Campus a needed urban boost. The project will add a variety of dining options for students and help to anchor the area directly south of Old Louisville as a sort of University City. With the recently announced plans to convert the nearby Masterson’s block into a mixed-use development, an area dominated by parking lots will soon be a walkable urban community.
The new dining hall will attach itself to an 11-story dormitory. The University Tower Apartments were built in 1966 at a time when large building setbacks were favored over an urban edge. As a result, the tower sits farther off the street than its Victorian neighbors on Unity Place and leaves an eroded edge at the corner. Its major contribution is height and it does serve as a visual marker for the area (and we think it’s actually a pretty nice building considering its period). We can appreciate now that the tower established a new scale for the area, but it’s taken over 40 years for the rest of the site to fill in.
The new dining hall addition fills in the setback and helps to define the street. The corner now has definition and the block is one step closer to becoming a city. The new design addresses the corner with an emphasized glass entrance and provides interest with jagged glass projections reminiscent of the Fleur-de-Lis on Main. The rest of the facade appears to be made of brick with a stone base. An oblique clerestory in the center of the space will allow northern light into the interior but probably won’t be overly visible from the street. Construction is expected to begin next week and will be open in January of 2010. The addition was designed by Sherman Carter Barnhart Architects.
And for the students who get to dine in the new facility, the University of Louisville and partner Sodexo plan a diverse array of options that are making us hungry. Included in the new dining facility will be the Flying Star Diner, Magellan’s, Panino’s Deli, Wild Mushroom, and Bella Trattoria.
Here’s a little more info on the five new dining options:
Flying Star Diner
At the Flying Star Diner you will be able to get the traditional diner items such as the basic scrambled eggs and bacon, burgers, fries, hot dogs, chili, macaroni and cheese, classic grilled cheese, and freshly prepared tomato soup, but the diner will also have specialty items like a mushroom, ham and Swiss frittata.
Magellan’s
Magellan’s will take you on a culinary journey around the world tasting the local cuisine of Asia, India, Morocco, Mexico and Africa to name a few. Each day, there’s something new.
Panino’s Deli
At Panino’s Deli you will be able to choose from panini/wrap/pita/white/rye/lettuce, your choice of meat, cheese, vegetables, toppings, and fillings. You can get that hot or cold; choose from a pre-made or made-to-order. Panino’s will also feature fresh homemade soups.
Wild Mushroom
At the Wild Mushroom you will be able to enjoy such menu favorites as red pepper and zucchini quiche, baked cutlets with onions and herbed almond crumb stuffing and curried tofu with jasmine rice. Special focus and attention at each station will be made to assure support of natural/organic components and in-season locally grown produce.
Bella Trattoria
Bella Trattoria will offer authentic Mediterranean dishes including orecchiette with broccoli and pine nuts, rigatoni with vodka sauce and prosciutto, gnocchi with a cheese and walnut topping, chicken cacciatore, lasagna, and baked ziti. Bella Trattoria will also serve some hearty soups and side dishes like balsamic roasted vegetables.
- Creating A ‘University Center’ At The Masterson’s Block (Broken Sidewalk)
perfect! and right in time for that $800 meal plan the university will be requiring of all students… what are the chances?
Considering nearly 3/4 of all UofL residents live west of 3rd street it’s about damn time they pit something in! But that is definitely NOT the same rendering they’ve been advertising to the students and the alumni. Where’s the huge two story atrium?when I find the link I’ll post a followup comment.
It’s about time! Wish they had something other than Chik-fil-a and Papa John’s when I was in school.
http://uofldiningservices.com/uta.html
Definitely an improvement over the exisitng condition. Maybe they can tear down Billy Minardi Hall and start over with something a little less schlocky.
I just wish the University would exert a little more pressure on the private developers they partner with for their off-campus housing (i.e., The Province – a wee bit of Olde Hurstbourne in Old Louisville), to take their new charter to become an ‘Urban University’ to heart when they design their developments.