The Rouse Co. is moving forward with plans to expand and nearly double the seating capacity of the Light Street Pavilion's food court at Harborplace.

The short-term plans entail removing kiosks this summer to create more space.

Long-term options include renovating or rearranging vacant spaces at the second-floor food court to provide more seating and better views of the harbor for customers, said Craig S. White, Rouse's vice president and general manager of Harborplace and the Gallery.

"To accommodate the customer, with the volume of traffic that comes through the harbor, we need more seating for our patrons," White said. "Over the years, the restaurants have grown stronger. Restaurants by the water have done better."

Plans for expanded seating are in the works because Harborplace has too few seats in comparison to similar mall properties around the country, said Jody L. Clark, Rouse's vice president and associate director. The food court area seats about 380. She declined to give more details on renovation plans, saying Rouse is still exploring options.

But expansion will happen soon. Clark said two of six free-standing kiosks will be removed this summer to make room for more tables and chairs; another two kiosks will eventually be removed.

Expanded seating will "allow the business customer as well as the tourist visitor to be able to have enough seating for the lunchtime," Clark said. "The more we can put seats in and provide for people, the better our tenants will do."

The food court has several vacancies and 18 tenants. Clark said the vacancies are intentional because Rouse is also trying to alter the variety of food offered at the food court.

Some shopkeepers and workers at the food court said a seating expansion is overdue.

"Sometimes there's conventions of 15,000 people, and they all come to the food court and there's no place to sit," said George Bonilla, manager of Steamers Raw Bar and Harborside Seafood at the food court. "It's been like that for a couple of years."

Jamie Turner, a 20-year-old Towson University student who's worked at Harborplace for several years, said it gets so busy sometimes that people end up eating at the counter of Oasis, a kiosk where lemonade, iced tea and Italian ices are sold.

Clark said Rouse would like the seating expansion to be completed by next summer, though that is contingent upon concluding leasing deals over the next six months.

"What we won't be doing is disrupting [the food court] dramatically during the [summer] season," Clark said.