Grille hours remain limited

Despite promises made last October for expanded operating hours at the Grille on Sundays and Mondays, administrators now predict new hours will not go into effect until the beginning of spring term, at best.

Last October, Dining Services hoped to expand the operating hours of the Grille to 5 p.m. to 12 a.m. on Sundays and until 12 a.m. on Mondays by the end of the month. The Grille is currently closed on Sundays and closes at 5 p.m. on Mondays. In early November, former Grille managers Michael Glidden and Dave Kerin, who also ran Wilson Café, MiddXpress, the Ralph Myre Golf Course and the Snow Bowl, announced their retirement, setting back plans for extended hours until their former positions can be filled.

Vice President for Administration Tim Spears said that the College has “hired a couple managers,” but still needs to hire a General Manager for all retail food locations, including the Grille.

Spears emphasized that the Grille can’t “open up on Sundays and Mondays until they have this next hire.”

Business Manager Thomas Corbin explained that the recruitment process for the General Manager is still ongoing. He hoped that telephone interviews would be completed this week.

“Once they make the hire it’ll probably be a four- to six-week turnaround,” added Spears.
“Optimistically, [expanded hours will go into effect during] the beginning of spring term, which I know is not the answer a lot of people want to hear.”

Grille hours were originally reduced at the beginning of the fall semester last year. Although Director of Dining Services Matthew Biette hoped that these reduced hours would be only “temporary,” the Grille still closes at 5 p.m. on Mondays and is closed entirely on Sundays.

The SGA passed a resolution to examine the Grille hours and their impact on student life on Oct. 10 of last year, one day before Spears’ announcement for expanded hours. In an e-mail written last October, SGA President Riley O’Rourke ’12 explained the SGA’s willingness to take action on the issue before the announcement for College-funded expanded hours.

“If they do not change it soon we will pass something else, and if we have to we will pay a student to stay in the space so we can at least get the room open for people to work in,” wrote O’Rourke. “It is embarrassing that a school like Middlebury does not have a [separate dining operation] open on Sunday or Monday. Also, it is ridiculous that there is no place to get food in this town after 9 p.m. on those days.”

Spears apologized for the delay.

“It has been a more protracted process than perhaps we thought it would be,” said Spears. “As I understand it, they just haven’t found the right candidate yet. We’re all hopeful that we can expand the hours ASAP.”