Penn State Behrend is reopening its Dobbins Dining Hall five months after it was heavily damaged by a fire. The eatery had been undergoing a $7.5 million renovation when a fire that began early in the morning of March 2 near a temporary entrance to the dining hall destroyed the Gazebo at Dobbins, the eatery's main seating area, and inflicted smoke and water damage to the servery and kitchens.
Campus dining services erected a temporary dining area in an old gym for the balance of the 2009-10 school year while the Gazebo was rebuilt, with insurance picking up the additional $2 million cost. The renovation, which was scheduled to be completed for the beginning of this school year, upgraded the nearly 40-year-old dining facility by adding a series of fresh food stations.