The Driscoll Student Center’s Village Commons cafeteria may close by the end of this academic year and reopen next September as an office and recreation space, according to John Nichols, the director of the Driscoll Student Center.
“Usage of the Commons is down significantly this year, and so what we are doing is taking advantage of the opportunity and transition the area into our temporary student organization hub,” Nichols said.
Sidelines Pub will then be modified to provide students with the same type of grab-and-go food, like the deli and salad bar, previously available at Commons.
The proposed redesign is still in the planning process and a budget has yet to be decided, but it is “pretty definite [it will occur] because of space needs,” according to Nori Yamashita, DU Dining Services general manager.
The change will come as part of a Driscoll redesign meant to maximize space and make the building more student-friendly. The redesign will temporarily take the place of the original plan for a Driscoll renovation, proposed to cost $7-8 million, which has been indefinitely tabled due to financial constraints, according to Yamashita.
“We made a decision to see if we could do something now so we can capture the space and utilize it a little more wisely,” Yamashita said.
He noted that Commons was set to close as early as the beginning of this academic year due to waning sales, construction of Nagel Hall’s retail food outlets and a need for more Student Life office space. In the fall of 2007, however, sales in Commons almost doubled and Yamashita requested that the university allow food sales to continue through the academic year.
“This fall, our sales dropped back down again so that’s when I knew Student Life still needed the space,” Yamashita said.
The plans to transform Village Commons were reinstated this year.
The entryway to Village Commons will become a student recreation area featuring the pool tables currently in Sidelines Pub. This space will also hold overflow seating for the Pub and offer student recreation space. The student media offices currently housed in Village Commons will remain, and the current space for the dining retailers and commuter student lounge will be transformed into student organization offices and overflow for Student Life.
The Pub will also undergo a redesign in order to incorporate some of the food providers currently operating out of Village Commons, according to Yamashita.
“My idea was to incorporate Commons providers into the existing service with the Pub so you might get an order sheet, check off what you want in a tossed salad, and the Pub makes it for you,” Yamashita said.
Other plans include possibly removing the bar in the Pub and replacing it with a deli counter and modifying the Pub menu to include lower-priced food items previously offered at the Commons grill, including burgers, chicken fingers and fries. The Pizza Hut provider in Commons is mobile and may also be relocated in the Pub if proper power requirements can be negotiated.
The majority of costs for the redesign would come from relocating power sources from the Commons to the Pub to operate drink refrigerators, coolers and the Pizza Hut kitchen. Some funds have already been set aside to purchase a new deli cooler, and this may end up covering the construction of a deli counter in the Pub.
