Parkside
dining hall closed down
By
Will Shaw
Online Forty-Niner
Contributing Writer
The Parkside Commons dining hall reopened after being closed Feb. 14 by the
Long Beach Bureau of Environment Health due to failing the bureau ’s
routine Food Facility Inspection.
When the health inspectors arrived, they found that one of the two boilers
providing hot water to the dining hall had failed. According to health regulations,
the minimum temperature of hot water at a public eating establishment must
be 120 degrees Fahrenheit. The dining hall’s hot water temperature was
only 108 degrees Fahrenheit, forcing it to be closed until necessary repairs
could be made.
During the lunch hours, residents were deferred to the Residence Commons dining
hall.
“I didn’t want to bother with the crowds at Residence,” said
Kendra Fujino, a Parkside Commons resident.
“
My friends and I just went to Panda and had rice bowls with some delicious
Mandarin chicken.”
“
Residents were crowded into the one dining hall for lunch and that was unfortunate,” said
Stan Olin, director of Housing and Residential Life at Cal State Long Beach. “Things
were back to normal for dinner.”
According to Olin, replacement parts were obtained for the boiler and repairs
were completed by mid-afternoon. The Parkside Dining hall reopened for the
evening meal.
“
My dining experience was great that night,” said Hung Nguyen, a resident
of Residence Commons who ate in the Parkside Commons dining hall that night
for dinner. “I would not have ever known there was a problem earlier
in the day.”
Housing and Residential life is assessing the situation to prevent future occurrences.
“
Although this was a rare situation, the Housing and Residential Life maintenance
crew is evaluating the systems in place and will make changes as necessary
so this type of closure does not happen in the future,” Olin said.
The city of Long Beach’s Food Inspection Program has three routine inspections
a year for all food facilities in Long Beach.
Residential Dining Services employs 10 ServSafe employees, while the law only
requires one employee to be certified. The ServSafe program is the industry
standard in food safety training.
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