WSU’s Southside Dining Hall and Market, known as “Rotunda,” is set to undergo renovation for the first time since 2007. Construction for the first of three phases is fully underway after the Board of Regents approved its design May 8.
The first phase has a $10 million budget and is projected to be finished by December 2026 according to the project’s submitted schedule. However, Director of Dining Services Jason Butcherite said the construction may not be finished until the spring 2027 semester.
The entire project will take multiple years to complete and modernize the Rotunda.
Based on renderings provided in the project’s design, the architecture will be minimalistic and geometric while using “natural materials” and having “mid-century modern roots” that feel “timeless.” Butcherite said the architect team and his staff did not want to design anything that felt “in the moment” or “on trend now.” The renovations will also show WSU’s branding, including its colors, logos and graphics.
Phase one of the plan is for the dining hall, focusing on three renovations: constructing new all-gender bathrooms in the southwest corner of the building behind where the registers currently are, a dish room where the restrooms are located and to redesign the food-serving area.
Butcherite said a group of roughly 30 students shared their feedback on the bathrooms’ design, specifically their entrance, exit and overall flow. The student evaluation helped point the design “in the right direction.”
Student input is an “integral” part of the renovations, per the project’s design approval document.
The inner circle of the food area, where salads, desserts and sandwiches are currently served, will be rearranged to serve pizza and salad at the front, with the back being filled with desserts, a beverage station and a self-serve frozen yogurt station. The deli will also be shifted toward the back according to the project design.
Butcherite said he is confident the inner area and bathrooms will be complete by fall 2026 move-in weekend. The new dish room may not be done, but would be “shortly after.”
Phase two is hopeful to begin immediately after phase one is complete, pending the Board of Regents’ approval, and has a $6 million budget, according to Butcherite. Most of the work for the second phase will be completed by the time the building opens in August for the 2027-2028 school year.
It will include making Natural its own station next to Chef’s Creation, creating a new “Latin-Southwest” food station, adding new furniture in the upstairs seating area and removing the cash registers, according to Butcherite.
The registers will be removed because WSU is moving to an all-you-care-to-enjoy model with meal swipes, starting during the 2027-2028 school year.
Latin-Southwest food, whose station will be located where the current dish room is, was selected because of two surveys. Gensler, an architecture firm, conducted one on enhancing student experience at WSU, and another was done by WSU Dining Services regarding possible improvements. Butcherite said both showed a desire for more international flavors in the dining halls, especially Latin food.
Butcherite also said student input would play a role in determining which type of new chairs is used in the seating area.
The third phase will address Southside’s market. The plan is to refresh the space by adding new furniture and a late-night food-serving area and expanding the perimeter for increased seating and overall space.
Phase three’s budget and timeline are “a little bit of a gray area,” and its construction will not begin immediately after phase two is complete, Butcherite said.
There are several sources of funding for the project, including bond savings and $3 million set aside from WSU Housing and Dining’s 2027 fiscal year budget.
Washington State has been working “really closely” with the architect, design and construction teams to stay on budget for the project, Butcherite said. This includes finding ways to “skim back” on certain aspects of the project and buy cheaper materials that still meet operational needs.
Construction technically started March 12 when the dining hall’s back corner, closest to the register, was blocked off with yellow barricades to create space to start building the new all-gender restrooms. The project management team received confirmation to begin that element of phase one at that time.
