College closes Juice Bar indefinitely

As per a final decision made by Dining Services on Sept. 14, the Juice Bar will remain closed and not re-open, as was previously reported.

“There was some miscommunication about whether or not that decision was going to stick this fall,” said Vice President for Administration Tim Spears. However, as of Sept. 14, Dining Services has decided “to move forward under the same circumstances that applied last spring. So the Juice Bar remains closed.”

The Juice Bar, like the Grille, had been losing the College money every fiscal year for a number of reasons, one being that the staffing model was not particularly cost-efficient. Though Dining Services elected to keep the Grille open, albeit with reduced hours, the Juice Bar was closed indefinitely.

However, Spears has begun preliminary conversations with Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer Patrick Norton about the possibility of re-opening the Juice Bar as a student-run operation.

“There is interest in that idea, but it’s just an idea,” Spears said. “We’re moving into further discussions about its feasibility.”

Spears noted that though several factors had yet to be worked through, such as concerns regarding alcohol licensing, other universities have implemented such a strategy with success, and part of the process of developing this idea will involve examining how other institutions have incorporated student-run auxiliary dining operations.

“My initial thought was, we have students running concessions, like at the hockey games,” said Spears. “Why can’t we do the same thing at the Juice Bar? … The idea of having students run this kind of operation … is not rocket science.”

Until that decision is finalized, however, the Juice Bar space will continue to function as a venue for student activities.