In early December, The Boardwalk Waterfront Restaurant started experiencing issues with its menu. Certain grilled items were unavailable to order, up until FGCU Dining Services decided to close.
“It was because of issues with the gas line,” said Ethan Pham, Paradise Smoothie worker. “We don’t know when they’ll open back up, they’ve given us many different dates, from January to March.”
North Lake residents did not go hungry while The Boardwalk was closed. FGCU Dining Services posted Loud Italian Pizza and Liberty Bell Ice food truck schedules each week.
String lights hanging from tree to tree, picnic tables and a bustling energy with lines of people waiting to order filled the area. While the food trucks were popular with the students, it was a mystery when the Boardwalk would open its doors again until students received an email announcing a grand reopening on Feb. 3.
FGCU Dining Services posted on Facebook:
“Join us for a grand reopening celebration with mocktails, music, and more. Anddd, stay tuned for a very special Boardwalk menu announcement before the reopening!”
FGCU Dining Services had delivered on their promises and from the minute they opened, a line was formed, like it had never closed. FGCU Dining Services’ Resident District Manager, Tara Scrivano, offered details of how a gas line shut down the Boardwalk.
“One day the fryer would not work properly, the next day the oven that we have for the pizzas was not getting to temperature or not holding temperature, and we could not figure out what was happening,” Scrivano said.
It was about a week before they found out that the culprit was a faulty gas gauge.
“What it was doing, is it wasn’t regulating the temperature and not allowing gas into the building,” Scrivano said.
The problem considered those who enjoy The Boardwalk and all it provides.
“We weren’t sure if it was the weather or if it was just the faulty gauge getting worse, but about two weeks prior to the end of the semester, it just shut down completely,” Scrivano said.
To save students the headache of coming to The Boardwalk with a menu of only kettle chips, FGCU Dining Services decided to close. It was a break for The Boardwalk staff until their gas gauge was fixed. Unfortunately, they could not just call any repairman to get the job done.
“It just so happens that this gas gauge that is outside our building is completely fabricated from scratch based on the building,” Scrivano said.
It was only supposed to be 6-8 weeks when they ordered back in October to get their replacement part but they waited until the middle of January to finally receive it. Once they had the part in their hand though they wasted no time to get The Boardwalk back up and running in just two weeks.
“This is the first time this has ever happened on campus in the 17 years I have been here, it was kind of a weird thing to navigate through,” Scrivano said.
FGCU Dining Services is celebrating by making their two most popular items, the chicken Caesar wrap and chicken tenders, new meal swipe options on their menu.
