The grand opening for the yearlong $13 million renovation of the Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management will take place April 22.
Juniors Richard Castello and Nikki Ray anticipate the opening of the new college and are grateful for the transformation. They both said they are looking forward to the convenience the renewal will bring.
“Before renovations, we really didn’t have a place to study in the college, but now we have a brand new library that is useful for all of us,” Ray said.
The HRM program is ranked as one of the top in the nation, and this renovation should allow the program to gain even more recognition.
Junior Sonya Kuni said she thinks that the college’s image needs to be equivalent to its success.
“It was time for renovation, because people talk about how good our program is and people who see it just see a rundown hotel and don’t realize everything that we actually do behind the scenes,” Kuni said. “The renovation gives us a new face and might make people more interested in our program.”
Students who have been dealing with the renewal expressed their opinions on how it was inconvenient for them to move around the college without having to make detours to get to class.
Most students, however, knew it was only temporary.
“The renovations will update our learning grounds because we will have different classes that will allow us to help with the hotel,” Ray said. “We are allowed to help give tours of the school and are more involved than ever before.”
Students are anxious to see what crowd will be drawn to the celebration. Ray said she has hopes of networking with very important people in the hotel industry.
“The reopening will bring a lot of opportunities to us as students, because we will get to mingle with people in the industry, and this could possibly help our careers,” Ray said.
Before the grand opening, the students of the college of HRM will host “Gourmet Night,” a showcase of what the students actually learn in the program.
Richard Castello attended last year and said it was something to look forward to.
“I was a wine server last year, but I did other things, and in my opinion, it was really awesome; it’s something to see,” he said.
HRM Dean John Bowen said that the event would be a beneficial event for the students.
“Industry leaders that are stake holders in the college will have sessions with our students throughout the day, a dinner will follow after the sessions. I encourage all HRM students to come out,” Bowen said.