Students and faculty soon may find a new place to eat, relax and study in the newly-approved dining facility "Java City Cafe at the Colonnade," to be built in Hotel E on the West range.
The Colonnade Club, which manages Hotel E, approved the designs for the new cafe Monday. Pricing estimates currently are being discussed and a color scheme will be developed over the next couple of weeks.
"Ideally it will open up when we come back for spring semester; certainly by spring break," Director of Dining Services Brent Beringer said.
Java City Cafe at the Colonnade will offer coffee drinks, smoothies, sushi, salads, sandwiches, desserts and bottled beverages. There also will be generous space for student relaxation and studying, with various groupings of soft seating, tables and high seating. The cafe also plans to have wireless Internet available.
"The space is open to students to use however they want," Beringer said. "We don't want to view it as a place a student has to come in and buy something."
Both Student Council and the administration wanted to bring an area such as the new cafe closer to central Grounds. However, difficulties with fire codes and space limitations prevent any such area from being built in New Cabell or Wilson Halls.
Hotel E, future home of Java City Cafe at the Colonnade, is located on McCormick Road on the South end of the West range, adjacent to Garret Hall.
Council Dining Affairs Committee Chair Michael H. Lee discussed the benefits of this location.
"This is a good development because students have complained in the past that the Pav is too far from Cabell," Lee said. "They can't just stop by and get a bite to eat."
The project currently is in its third year of development. Beringer explained that much of the delay in construction is because of the complexity of renovating a historical building such as Hotel E.
"This was one of the first original hotels," he said. "We're trying to do this without structural changes to the building."
Beringer described the largest problems as dealing with telephone lines, data lines and wiring for new lights.
Dating from the University's initial construction, Hotel E is the only Hotel on Grounds that still carries out its original function as a dining facility. This summer, the first floor faculty dining room was moved upstairs to the Garden Room to make room for the new cafe.
Developers cited increased faculty-student interaction as a motivating factor for this project. The Java City Cafe at the Colonnade aims to be a place where students and faculty can interact, bringing a new atmosphere to a building, which has been relatively unused by students for decades.
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