CORRECTION: Due to a reporting error, an earlier version of this article incorrectly identified the pizza restaurant that will replace Panda on Lehigh Road. This article has been changed to reflect that correction.

Every Friday, The Diamondback will bring you updates about the city and university. This week, College Park Economic Development Coordinator Michael Stiefvater gives an update on Terrapin’s Turf, soon to be one of the city’s newest establishments. The city is also home to two new pizza restaurants, with one replacing late-night Chinese restaurant Panda.

Terrapin’s Turf

TERRAPIN’S TURF

Terrapin’s Turf, formerly known as Terrapin Turf, is still waiting to receive its final permits from the Washington Suburban Sanitation Commission, according to Michael Stiefvater, College Park economic development coordinator. The permits will likely arrive this week or early next week, Stiefvater said.

The owners still need final approval from the county’s health department and a sign-off on the use and occupancy permit, Stiefvater said. Obtaining these sign-offs would require final inspections from the county, he said.

Opening a new establishment such as Terrapin’s Turf usually doesn’t take this long, Stiefvater said, though the sprinkler system needed to be redone, and the building required a lot of renovations. The owners had hoped to open before the semester started, he added.

– Annika McGinnis, amcginnisdbk@gmail.com

Prince Frederick Hall

PRINCE FREDERICK HALL

Prince Frederick Hall, soon to be the university’s newest dorm, is about halfway complete, according to a Facilities Management press release.

Workers recently finished “the concrete phase of the project,” according to the press release, and are now focusing on exterior framing, brickwork, masonry and the interior. The building is on schedule and is expected to be completed in April 2014, said Bill Olen, capital projects director.

Students are scheduled to move into the $71 million dorm starting in fall 2014. The building will house 462 students and will have various offices, three seminar rooms and a conference room. Each floor of the seven-story building will have a laundry room and study spaces.

– Matt Bylis, mbylisdbk@gmail.com

Pizza place to replace Panda

RESTAURANT OPENINGS AND CLOSINGS

More pizza joints are coming to College Park, after Slices Pizza Co. on Baltimore Avenue opened in August and signs for another pizza restaurant appeared at the former location of Chinese restaurant Panda.

Slices offers 12 or more pizza varieties every day, as well as paninis, salads and pizza-stuffed pretzels. The company opened its first location in Greensboro, N.C., earlier this year.

Another pizza place replaces Panda on Lehigh Road. The new restaurant advertised it will sell jumbo pizza slices.

Roti Mediterranean Grill on Baltimore Avenue is closing, College Park Councilman Robert Catlin said at the end of the city council meeting Tuesday.

The Mediterranean restaurant, located under The Varsity, opened in August 2012. The restaurant was known for its falafel sandwiches and fresh hummus sides.

– Diamondback staff, newsumdbk@gmail.com

TEACH FOR AMERICA

Forty-two graduates from this university joined Teach for America in 2013, pushing the university to 14th in the large schools category on the teaching corps’ sixth annual list of top contributors.

The graduates train at a summer institute and agree to two-year teaching commitments at public schools in low-income areas.

Since Teach for America’s inception in 1990, 334 university alumni have joined the corps, according to UMD Right Now. The university first earned a spot on the list in 2008.

– Diamondback staff, newsumdbk@gmail.com