The Whiting Forest Cafe has a new design, thanks to five Northwood University students. Originally reported in
the Midland Daily News; Kaitlyn Cole, Jon Perrault, Nathan Bauer, Tristan Korzelius and Akash Jain Bengani were all winners in part of a competition to design the new cafe in Dow Gardens, which will be called The Forty Cafe.
The contest is one of several opportunities that Northwood University offers its students for experiential learning. Additionally, this looks to be just the start of a larger partnership between Northwood University and the Forty Cafe, where the DeVos Graduate School will conduct a field work practicum and The Forty Cafe will serve as a case study for them, said Kyle Bagnall, the Whiting Forest program manager.
The cafe will be designed as a local gathering place for families and groups, Bagnall said. The menu will be limited to soups and sandwiches, with the future thought of a box lunch option, so that people could eat in the forest.
The Forty Cafe is part of a larger construction project which will include the construction of a 40 foot high canopy walkway. Construction is not slated to be completed until Spring 2019, however, sneak peaks will be open to the public through Summer 2018.
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