College explores in-town space

Author: Aviva Shen

The identity of the social space formerly belonging to Eat Good Food (EGF) is starting to gather definition as planning continues into the fall semester. This past summer, Dean of the College Tim Spears and a committee of students who were on campus at the time began brainstorming when the lease was first signed.

"Weekend programming will offer live entertainment and a place where people can meet for drinks and light fare," wrote committee member Micah Gurard-Levin '07.5 in an email. "This space isn't going to be the new Angela's. I want to create a warm and inviting atmosphere that encourages responsible socializing, not binge drinking and drunken walks home from the bar. I'd love to see students and townspeople meeting with friends or family for drinks while listening to live jazz - maybe even dress up a bit and be somewhat formal."

Since the summer, the planning process has broadened to include the opinions and ideas of different interest groups in order to tailor the space to satisfy as many people as possible.

"In our first few meetings in the fall, we quickly determined that it would be beneficial to invite members of the faculty and staff to be part of the planning process, as well as representatives from town who are unaffiliated with the College," wrote Gurard-Levin, "in order to develop a space that serves all of the interests involved and can be used by both the College community and the town as a whole."

Student groups that may have a stake in what happens to the EGF space have also gotten involved, including WRMC 91.1 FM, Dolci and the Middlebury College Activities Board (MCAB.) These groups were invited to investigate the viability of bringing their respective activities off campus .

"Tim sent us an e-mail inviting us to a meeting to talk about the possibility of bringing Dolci to the space," said Beth Connolly '10, one of the managers of Dolci. "So we went to see the space with a bunch of other students who wanted to turn it into an art gallery, a fundraising space, things like that."

Practicality, however, has narrowed the options.

"We looked at the kitchen and it's just too small," Connolly said. "Right now we use Proctor's kitchen and we cook for about 80 people, so we need a lot of space. We also use the food already in the kitchen. We don't buy it. We'd have to change a lot about Dolci in order to make it work. So we backed out."

"One person at the meeting said, 'Let's have a 24-hour student-run restaurant there,'" Connolly continued, "and Tim said, 'Okay, but who's going to be there at 5 a.m. to receive supplies and get everything together?' It's much more complicated than people think. I'd definitely be interested in how it works."

One possible solution to the problem of staffing such a venue is outsourcing management to a non-College entity. Tom Corbin, assistant treasurer and director of Business Services, and Patrick Norton, associate vice president for Finance and Controller, are investigating this option. However, outsourcing could complicate management further.

"For instance, we do not know whether it is possible for the non-College entity to serve alcohol under the College's license," Spears wrote in an e-mail. "It may be that this non-College entity would, under [Department of Liquor Control] regulations, have to hold the license. That adds another layer of complexity to the question of whether we should outsource the management of the space."

Regardless of whether or not an outsourcing plan is adopted, the College expects to maintain control of the programming of the space. The path that programming will take, however, is still obscure.

"One of the hardest aspects of this project is that we want to create a specific vision that establishes a clear identity and function for the space, but at the same time we want to be flexible and fulfill as many ideas and visions as possible," wrote Gurard-Levin.

The identity of the space, then, will come from a blend of many different student interests. Many hope to create a uniquely satisfying social outlet, stemming from a collective need on campus.

"While the space will be affiliated with the College, our goal is to create a space that doesn't necessarily reflect that," wrote Gurard-Levin. "We understand students' desires to get away from campus and ultimately this space will be an opportunity to do exactly that."

"We're not looking to reproduce another Grille or Gamut Room or Bunker and we're also not looking to replace them," wrote Josh Wessler '09, another committee member, in an e-mail. "Instead, we feel we're responding to a need for a social life that does not so closely revolve around a homogeneous culture within the 'bubble.'"

Another important aspect of the space is its potential to bring the College and the community together. The improvement of College and town interaction, according to those involved in the planning, is one of the main points of the space.

"We are committed to establishing a venue where folks from the College and town can meet and collaborate," wrote Spears.

Hopefully, this will be achieved before the space even opens. The shared planning process attempts to bring the local community into what will ultimately be a shared social space.

"By inviting members of the community to be part of the planning process, we are better able to create a space that offers something to the College community and the town community alike," wrote Gurard-Levin.

Still, it will be up to the students to make the effort to leave the "bubble" and truly create the identity of the space.

"We're envisioning an initiative that steps up to the need for a change in our social life - and the initiative will ultimately stem from the students," wrote Wessler.

Gurard-Levin agreed. "Every time the College tries something new on campus, people question how it will influence student social life," he wrote. "If it doesn't work, students blame the College. This is an opportunity that the College is presenting to the student body. It is up to the students to decide how this space will influence social life."