Commons Dining Hall after being closed, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, at Texas State.
Update as of 8:06 p.m.
According to Pantlik, Commons Dining Hall will remain closed for breakfast and lunch on Monday.
“…Commons Dining Hall will be closed for breakfast and lunch tomorrow. All other dining options are open on campus,” Pantlik wrote in an email.
Orginal Story
Commons Dining Hall remains closed after reports of smoke led firefighters to discover a small fire in a crawlspace beneath the building’s basement.
An alert was sent to students through the Texas State mobile app at 6:45 p.m., notifying them of the closure and directing them to use Harris Dining Hall until further notice.
According to Sandy Pantlik, vice president for marketing and communications, the San Marcos Fire Department responded to reports of light smoke at the dining hall on the evening of Sept.13. Upon arrival, firefighters located and extinguished a small fire in the crawl space, Pantlik wrote in an email to The Star.
“Commons Dining Hall was safely evacuated out of [an] abundance of caution and will remain closed while the situation is assessed, ” Pantlik wrote. “Students are encouraged to use Harris Dining Hall as an alternative.”
According to Russell Wilde, San Marcos public safety communications specialist, firefighters checked the area to ensure no hot spots remained after extinguishing the fire.
“The building was turned over to Texas State University Police Department, and the cause of the fire is under investigation,” Wilde wrote in an email to The Star.
Texas State has not announced when Commons will reopen, and the cause of the fire is currently unclear.
“We will have more information tomorrow after we have a chance to better assess the situation,” Pantlik wrote.
Harris Dining Hall will remain open until 10 p.m. Sunday and reopen at 7 a.m. Monday morning.
A table barricades the entrance to Commons Dining Hall after being closed, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, at Texas State. (Aiden Fritsche)
This is a developing story. The University Star will provide updates as more information becomes available.
Dining and Cooking