Students protest upcoming renovations to Ike’s

Though the plans are not finalized, Ike's will be able to hold up to 385 people after the renovations (Photo courtesy of Stephen Morehouse, director of construction for Auxiliary Enterprises).

As the university prepares to renovate Ike’s, the late-night diner located in Presidents’ Park, some students are not so eager to see the changes.

Early in the 2013 spring semester, rising sophomores Jared Donohue and Rich Dillon worked together to rally support against the renovations under the campaign “Save Ike’s.”

“I think that in order to build a deeper sense of school spirit and tradition it is paramount that the university takes actions to maintain memorable parts of the George Mason experience for all students, past and present, to identify with,” Donohue wrote in an email.

Over the next year, Ike’s will be altered to look more like Southside, providing more buffet-style options. Ike’s renovations are part of a larger effort by the university to promote “anytime dining” facilities to serve residential neighborhoods. After the renovations, Ike’s will be open 24 hours a day.

“[Anytime dining is] a program that’s going to enable students to eat healthier and have much more extended hours than they previously had,” said Gregg Toney, associate vice president of Auxiliary Enterprises.

Currently, Ike’s can seat 100 patrons. After the renovations, the facility will have up to 385 seats and provide additional space for outdoor seating and programming.

“It will be far more upscale than the previous Ike’s,” Toney said. “It had very limited capacity to provide a variety of foods. We have to make sure we had sufficient capacity. Today, it’s overcrowded.”

According to Toney, Mason made the decision to renovate Ike’s with input from the Dining Services Committee, which includes members from student government.

Donohue and another student created the website, “Save Ike’s”, to petition the administration against the project, and provided testimony in favor of the existing facility. As of May 31, the petition has 431 signatures.

“Ike's is an important part of not only the ‘freshman experience’ but also the college atmosphere,” reads a description on the website.

Despite the efforts of the campaign, the renovations will begin within the next few months. Donahue concedes that “Save Ike’s” may not have been successful because not many students knew about the plans.

“The majority of students were not sure of what was going on,” Donohue wrote. “Most people had heard rumors but nothing concrete.”

The university hopes to reopen the new facility by fall of 2014. Though the final plans have yet to be confirmed, the project is estimated to cost between $10 and $12 million. 

(Photo courtesy of Stephen Morehouse, director of construction for Auxiliary Enterprises)