The Habit Burger Grill, Taco Bell and Toss-N-Chop in Fresno State’s Resnick Student Union have not opened because the proper ventilation systems were not included in the original construction of the building for the three restaurants.

“It [the system] was not included in the base building design as we had not yet finalized the operational needs of the three dining concepts,” said Debbie Adishian-Astone, vice president for administration and chief financial officer, through an email from Lisa Bell, a public information officer for University Communications.

The systems involved included a fire suppression system and grease ducting.

When asked if not including venting and ducting for the three restaurants in the base building design was a mistake, Adishian-Astone said:

“We had to wait to start this separate design and construction work after the building was completed and signed off on. This is tenant-improvement work, which is being funded by Association [University] Dining Services.”

The Resnick Student Union dining options, originally supposed to open in Fall 2022 when the building opened, have had numerous delays, with little explanation.

The first notification students received about the delay was in a Fresno State News press release on Aug. 17, 2022.

“Supply chain disruptions have delayed the opening of the new food concepts planned for the Resnick Student Union. They should be on track to open in the spring,” Bell reported.

Since then, the university has continued to attribute the delays to construction and other similar issues.

Students did not receive another update until the week of March 6.

“We had hoped to open these three concepts: Taco Bell (full menu), Habit and Toss-N-Chop (soup/salad) this spring, but based upon construction timelines and training of staff, it will be Fall 2023,” Adishian-Astone wrote in an email to The Collegian on March 6.

The most recent update students received was in another Fresno State News press release on Aug. 17, 2023.

The Collegian queried the university for a reason on the delays, and University Communications faulted construction once again.

“I checked with Debbie Adishian-Astone. She said it is typical construction-related activities: unforeseen utilities, additional time for installation of some mechanical equipment, etc.,” Bell said.

The official reason for the delay has yet to be confirmed publicly to students, but on Sept. 13, Adishian-Astone verified with The Collegian that the reason for the delay was due to not including a proper HVAC system installation.

Adishian-Astone said the original plan for the RSU always accounted for retail dining; however, it didn’t consider proper venting and ducting.

“It only provided shell space and rough utilities. As such, venting [and] ducting required for food preparation needed to be included in the TI [technology infrastructure] design for the build-out of the retail dining area,” she told The Collegian.

She said construction is in progress, and students can expect the dining concepts to open soon.

“As with any construction project, there are always unforeseen project-related issues that may impact the timeline for completion, but please know that the work is well underway to successful completion in the very near future,” Adishian-Astone said.

Currently, there are food trucks on campus from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Thursday located in the quad area, by the Mckee Fisk and Family Food and Science buildings.

On Oct. 2, University Dining Services disseminated a campus newsletter that said the new food trucks on campus would only be present for the month of October, as the RSU dining concepts are now scheduled to open in early November.

“These alternative dining options will hopefully help to provide additional dining options and mitigate some of the longer wait times until the RSU Retail Dining concepts are open (early November),” University Dining Services stated.