BUFFALO, N.Y. — A man whose name is usually associated with some of the finer food in the area, will also be a part of the local college dining scene.
Russell Salvatore visited Villa Maria College on Tuesday as they got to work on the Russell J. Salvatore Commons.
“Mr. Salvatore’s gift is the single largest in the college’s history. We are grateful for his commitment to Villa Maria and excited for what this improvement will do to our campus community,” said Dr. Matthew Giordano, President of Villa Maria College. “The dining hall has been the heart of Villa Maria for six decades and its renovation is long overdue. We collectively thank Mr. Salvatore for making this possible.”
He donated to help fund a $1 million renovation of the school's more than 60-year-old dining hall. The money will be used to add more space for students to study and relax.
"I lay in bed and I've got such an imagination of what it's going to look like. It's going to be so beautiful so gorgeous. We're gonna have big armchairs, tables with lamps where the kids can read them. Let's have a ping pong table over there, shuffleboard, a beautiful restaurant over there. I'll come in this lounge and open up a cocktail bar, I'll give cocktails away - he says you can't open a cocktail bar!" Salvatore said at the event.
Work on the dining hall should be done before the fall semester.
