The opening of Mill Village has been delayed again, leaving Central Campus residents with few nearby food options for another month.
Last weekend’s snowfall halted work at the site for several days, pushing the finish date back to “somewhere around March 1,” said Steve Nowicki, dean and vice provost of undergraduate education. When it opens, Mill Village will offer Central residents a restaurant and an enlarged Uncle Harry’s General Store, as well as social space.
Students said the temporary grocery store on Central lacks many food items they need to prepare meals.
“I understand fully that the temporary Uncle Harry’s is less than desirable,” Nowicki said. “But it really is just a matter of a few weeks before Mill Village and the new Uncle Harry’s opens up.”
Some students said they are unhappy with the lack of meal options on Central.
“It’s been rough on us,” said Central resident Nutishia Blake, a junior. “We have lower food points anyway and then they took away Uncle Harry’s. It puts us in a bind.”
Although there is a temporary replacement for Uncle Harry’s, Blake said it does not offer much variety.
“There’s barely anything in there,” she said.
Blake added that the lack of a restaurant on Central pushes her to dine frequently on West Campus.
“I don’t have the time to cook whenever I need a meal,” she said.
Senior Brandy Austin said she used to cook when she could purchase the ingredients she needed at Uncle Harry’s. She said that now, she often orders food, even though delivery can be expensive.
Students on Central said they have become used to looking elsewhere for meals.
“It’s not unexpected,” sophomore Yue Jiang said of the delay. “I think it’s great that the University is taking the initiative to put in a restaurant.”
Jiang, who lives on Central, said finding a place eat his next meal is not usually difficult.
“Duke is really good with Merchants on Points,” he said. “Central’s really nice because you have your own kitchen.”
Jiang is also a member of Ubuntu, a new selective living group housed on Central. He said finding food is not an issue for the social group.
“Either we’ll go off-campus or we’ll order in,” he said.
Jiang said he did not think that the absence of a main Central eatery affected Ubuntu’s recruitment process this semester.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.