Culinary Center Announced - Owens Community College

Owens Community College has
announced plans to build a new culinary
center in Heritage Hall on the Toledoarea
Campus. The new space will allow
Owens to expand the current Food,
Nutrition and Hospitality Management
program offerings.
“Right now, classes run in the lab Monday
through Friday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. We
can’t accommodate any additional classes
or students in the space we have,” said
Joann Gruner, Chair of the Food, Nutrition
and Hospitality Management program.
“We also can’t run baking classes during
the summer months because of humidity.”
The Culinary Arts Degree program has a
two-year wait list. Once the new space is
completed, the programs will be able to
accommodate more students. Additionally,
Owens will be able to offer cooking and
nutrition classes for community members
and corporate training in the new facilities
– a request they routinely get.
“We visited several culinary schools to
benchmark their facilities and make sure
we use our space and budget as efficiently
as possible,” said Gruner.
The skills lab will include the latest
cooking equipment and tools so students
can practice their technical skills. The
restaurant lab will simulate what students
seating or lecture style. One end will
have a demonstration station complete
with cameras and television screens so
everyone in the class will have a bird’s eye
view of the cooking demonstration.
The popular Terrace View Café, where
students practice their skills by cooking
and serving themed lunches in a
restaurant setting, will also be moved to
Heritage Hall.
The Food, Nutrition and Hospitality
Management department is home to five
academic programs including an Associate
of Applied Science degree in Culinary Arts
and in Dietetic Technology, Associate of
Applied Business degree in Hospitality
Management, a Culinary Arts certificate
and a Baking and Pastry certificate.
The new facility plans are in the works
and include up to 14,000 square feet – a
huge increase over the 3,000 square feet
the facility now includes. It will have three
unique culinary labs including a food
science and baking lab, a culinary skills lab
and a restaurant skills lab. The Center’s
large dining area will host lunches and
special events, giving students real-world
experience creating menus, preparing and
plating food and serving.
would find in the industry with a beverage
wait station and expediting station. The
baking and pastry lab will be heat and
humidity controlled to allow students to
learn advanced pastry skills like chocolate
and sugar sculpting.
Additionally, there will be a flexible dining
space that can accommodate special
events and classroom instruction. It
will be able to be set with banquet-style
For a video about our Food,
Nutrition and Hospitality
Program, scan the QR Code
with your smart phone.
Pictured on front cover: Owens Hospitality Management student, Ronnie Leslie, works on an ice sculpture
for the Foundation Annual Meeting.
www.owens.edu/alumni • 7