UW Stout Price Commons

Price Commons is the location of the main campus food services, mail services and serves as a conference and meeting center. UW-Stout saw the opportunity in an abatement project to improve the facility to better serve both staff and students. The facility, which serves new students, was dark and uninviting. The space needed a new style that would be welcoming, a place for new students to meet one another and to project the school’s focus of being “Wisconsin’s Polytechnic University”. The project included renovation of the kitchen prep area and servery, including asbestos abatement, complete mechanical upgrade and replacement of coolers and freezers, as well as overall cosmetic improvements to the dining area, all located on the second floor of the building. The renovation created a new servery area with digital display boards and themed servery stations. The remodeled dining area now features new furniture, booth seating, an electric fireplace, flat screen televisions, bar seating, and Internet access throughout for student laptops. The upgrade in mechanical systems and food service equipment has provided efficiency gains in energy consumption and environmental controls. The new atmosphere has attracted increased sales volumes and student use.