Big changes afoot at school hangout
- Release Date:Wednesday, August 05, 2009
Big changes afoot at school hangoutby Zack Harold, Daily Mail staff
Photo by Tom Hindman
A construction crew works on renovation of the Coffee Tavern at the University of Charleston student center.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. When University of Charleston students return in late August, they'll find big changes to a popular campus hangout.
The Coffee Tavern, or "CT" as students know it, is undergoing a major renovation this summer. Crews have gutted the interior of the cafe, located on the ground floor of UC's Geary Student Union, and are now updating its updated facade. New booths and tables will be installed, and a private dining area will be built.
In addition to the Bolder Subs and short-order grille stations already available in the CT, a pizza station and an Asian-inspired option, called "Miso," will be available. The university's Starbucks kiosk will move outside the Coffee Tavern to a new location outside the student union's main lounge.
Cleta Harless, UC's vice president for administration and finance, says the cafe was in dire need of renovation.
"It really had only had Band-Aid renovations done to it in the past, and the food service prep areas were not functional for the volume of production for that location," she said.
Because of the limited amount of space in the Coffee Tavern's kitchen facilities, Harless said the majority of food preparation was done upstairs in the cafeteria, a "major efficiency issue."
The newly renovated Coffee Tavern should be open for business by Labor Day weekend.
Harless said university officials met with students at the end of the spring semester to get their input on the new cafe's design.
For years UC had offset its lack of on-campus dining options by partnering with Main Kwong, Penn Station Subs, Husson's Pizza and Papa John's Pizza to let students use their meal plan money at those businesses. The university tried to cancel the program last year but reinstated it due to negative student response. Now, the university is discontinuing the program and is using that money to pay for renovations.
"In order to pay for it so students will have the variety on campus, we couldn't continue sending the funds off-campus to those vendors," Harless said.
Crews are also working on the University of Charleston's new parking garage and apartment complex. Harless says construction is still on schedule, with the parking garage slated to open this November. Students should be able to move into the apartments by the beginning of the spring semester.
Harless said the garage is going up fast, with workers trucking in concrete pieces and welding them into place. Crews have erected the steel frame for the apartment building as well, and have installed the pre-cast floors.
