Tomlinson Hall Comes Full Circle
Originally posted in Northeast Ohio Properties Vol. 80, Issue 10 Story & Photos by: Scott Esterly
October, 2026
In CWRU’s bicentennial year, the historic student union returns to its roots
More than 75 years after Tomlinson Hall was built as a student union for the Case Institute of Technology, the historic building along Martin Luther King Jr. Drive at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is returning to its roots. A recently completed renovation has transformed the main level into a marketplace and gathering space, creating a place for students and faculty to gather, similar to the experience offered at the Tinkham Veale University Center.
The $3.5 million project converted 5,500 square feet of former office, meeting and informal student space into an area with expanded seating and several new food concepts. The renovation was shaped around how students were already using Tomlinson Hall and how the university hoped the building could better serve this portion of campus. Campus momentum CWRU had a clear picture of what students wanted from the new marketplace.
“We do a dining survey twice a year and we always ask what they’d like to see,” says Jason Kimball, CWRU’s assistant director of dining services. “A lot of those were mentioned in the surveys year after year.”
“We have had dining on the quad here,” he adds. “We were looking to try to make it more efficient and actually have a designated location for the students to come to.”
At the same time, Bon Appétit, CWRU’s food service provider, developed an early schematic concept for Tomlinson Hall as part of its evaluation of dining opportunities across campus, providing a starting point for what the marketplace could become.
The project also comes at a time of considerable activity in that area of campus. Major new construction is taking place immediately next door with the forthcoming Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Building (ISEB), with site and landscaping improvements extending toward Tomlinson Hall.
Team+timeline
The Tomlinson Hall project brought together a team with longstanding ties to Case Western Reserve University and the building itself. From CWRU, Bhadra Nair, director of capital projects; Wendy Harbaugh, design manager; Jennifer Hofelich, construction manager; and Jason Kimball, assistant director of dining services, worked alongside DVA Architecture and Lawler Construction. Justin Fliegel, associate principal at DVA Architecture, and Tom Lawler, president of Lawler Construction, were part of a group that had collaborated on previous university projects, including earlier work within Tomlinson Hall. Planning began in 2023, when DVA Architecture helped evaluate and develop the initial food service concept. As the project evolved, Lawler
“It may be the best coordinated food service and engineering design I’ve personally worked on. Itmade our lives a lot easier on the front end, and then when we did run into issues, we were able to solve them.” TomLawler Lawler Construction
Construction was formally brought in for budgeting in late 2024. Originally targeted for summer 2025, the renovation was postponed while other major work progressed nearby on campus. The delay ultimately gave the team more time to address long lead items before construction began the following March. Among the longest lead items was a gelato case from Italy, which ultimately took about eight months to arrive.
“If the project was released on a typical timeline, we wouldn’t have had it in time,” Lawler says.
Construction began in late March, with substantial completion reached in September. The marketplace officially opened on September 2
REIMAGINED SPACE The $3.5 million project converted 5,500 square feet of former office, meeting and informal student space (top) into an area with expanded seating and several new food concepts (bottom).
Construction
The earliest design concept focused primarily on the central food service area, while another option explored expanding Tomlinson Hall to create additional seating. When interior office space also became available, it was folded into the project, allowing the university to add substantially more seating while avoiding the cost and schedule demands of an addition.
Once construction began in late March, the challenges shifted to working within a building more than 75 years old. The first phase of demolition was intentionally contained while students remained on campus, with crews expanding their work after the school year ended. The Case Alumni Association and offices elsewhere in Tomlinson Hall remained open during demo and construction.
Even with the team’s previous experience in the building, existing conditions uncovered surprises. New sanitary lines had to be routed to the level below, ductwork and hot water piping had to reach the rooftop mechanical equipment, and portions of the fire suppression system required adjustments. Crews opened more of the building than originally anticipated, including areas above ceilings and below the ground floor, while an existing return duct forced the team to find alternate routes in another portion of the building. The new air handler presented another challenge. Originally scheduled for May, it did not arrive until July, when crews used a crane to set the equipment in place on the roof.
“With buildings this old, they weren’t designed with the pathways and futureproofing like you see now,” Fliegel says.
One of the most difficult conditions involved connecting new sanitary piping through the tunnel below the ground floor. The initial route would have required an approximately 80-foot run through the tunnel and could’ve taken several times longer than scheduled. Historic university drawings helped identify another connection point and avoid the more complicated path. Elsewhere, hot water piping traveled about 50 feet farther than planned to reach new air-handling equipment. Portions of the floor below required more extensive underground work than anticipated before being patched back into the existing space.
Additional manpower helped recover portions of the schedule, while DVA Architecture and Karpinski Engineering worked with the construction team to resolve conditions as they were uncovered.
“It may be the best coordinated food service and engineering design I’ve personally worked on,” Lawler says. “It made our lives a lot easier on the front end, and then when we did run into issues, we were able to solve them.”
Retaining history
The design team wanted the new marketplace to feel like a natural part of Tomlinson Hall rather than a contemporary facelift. Original stairs, columns and marble finishes were retained, while new wood paneling and wainscoting were detailed to match existing elements.
“We wanted to tie it back to the historic look, but not necessarily make it look like we’re just recreating an older building – sort of freshen it up,” Fliegel says.
“You still see the original terrazzo steps, original columns and marble finish,” Lawler adds. “The design they did to tie the new work to the original is almost seamless, in my opinion.”
Tile flooring has the appearance of terrazzo, while patterned wall coverings and tile introduce texture without overpowering the original architecture. Decorative metal panels around the central food service island were inspired by the ornamental grilles and return-air registers found in older buildings.
The color palette remains light and neutral, taking advantage of the building’s large windows. Removing the former office partitions also brought those windows into the space, making the new seating area considerably brighter and providing campus views.
FRESH APPROACH A central foodservice island anchors the redesigned marketplace (top), where students can order at kiosks (middle) and gather in casual lounge seating areas (bottom).
Student experience
“The core part to all of this is just making an excellent student experience,” Fliegel says. “That’s what it’s really all about.”
“We wanted to tie it back to the historic look, but not necessarily make it look like we’re just recreating an older building –sort of freshen it up.” Justin Fliegel, DVA Architecture
The marketplace includes coffee, gelato, crepes, Mediterranean offerings and smoothies. Most ordering is contactless, with kiosk orders routed directly to the appropriate station and assembled for pickup. There is a walkup option for anyone looking for coffee or pastries.
Because the Alumni Association remains adjacent to the marketplace, acoustics and circulation received particular attention. Wall coverings conceal acoustic panels in portions of the space, carpet helps absorb sound in seating areas and all the food-service equipment was evaluated for noise.
The completed renovation provides 126 seats across the two areas. Smaller tables allow individuals to use the space without occupying oversized seating areas, while furniture can also be pulled together for groups. Power access was also intentionally limited in certain areas to encourage turnover rather than it functioning solely as an all-day study space.
While students remain the primary audience, Tomlinson Hall’s proximity to Adelbert Hall and other university offices is expected to draw faculty, staff and university leadership as well.
Back to its roots
With the marketplace complete, Tomlinson Hall is once again serving much the same purpose it did when it opened as the Case Institute of Technology’s student union more than 75 years ago.
“I think the history of the building is interesting, knowing that this was the original student union for Case,” Fliegel says.
Even before the renovation, Nair says students regularly gravitated toward Tomlinson Hall’s limited seating areas, often bringing food with them.
“If you walked into this building, you’d see a bunch of students with food, sitting here having their lunch,” Nair says. “This really was a focal center for Case Western Reserve.”
