The Heslington East will finally be getting its own bar, two years after the new campus opened to students and just five months after Jon Greenwood, Director of Commercial Services, claimed there would be no bar there until at least 2014, and potentially not for another 20 years.
The plan for a third YUSU-run bar was announced as part of the Langwith College development on Hes East, with the bar placed within the egg-shaped Langwith Centre that acts as the heart of the new college accommodation. The as-yet-unnamed bar follows the Courtyard and the Lounge, which opened on Saturday, as bars run by the Students’ Union.
YUSU President Tim Ellis told Vision: “We are pleased to have managed to secure a new bar on Hes East. After talks with David Duncan, it has been agreed that the new nucleus building in Langwith can be redesigned to house a bar that will be run by YUSU for Goodricke, Langwith and all students and staff on Hes East.”
The Langwith development as a whole looks to house 645 students, while Derwent College will take over the existing Langwith blocks on Heslington West. Construction is already underway on the east side of the new campus, with roofing already in place on some of the buildings. The development comes at a cost of £30 million and includes a mixture of larger accommodation blocks, alongside smaller blocks of town-houses, with the Centre at the heart.
The huge increase in the size of the Langwith has worried some of those who value the college spirit. However, Provost John Issitt told Vision: “There will be challenges as a result of Langwith doubling in size but we have a robust team and a strong identity.
“We will adapt, play to our strengths and go forward with enthusiasm.”
In July, Director of Commercial Services Jon Greenwood said he felt that “there currently isn’t enough student demand on Heslington East to justify building a social and catering building.
“Langwith College will open in 2012, and a bar is not expected to open before then.” However, YUSU have now stepped in to resolve an issue that Goodricke students, and their JCRC, have been pushing for since first moving into the new campus in 2009.
However, both Ellis and Goodricke Chair Nacho Hernando were quick to stress that the new bar is just a temporary arrangement. Ellis described the new bar as a “temporary soloution until the Social and Catering building is built. This is something that YUSU, and the Goodricke and Langwith JCRCs, are still keen to push for.”
Hernando was keen to stress that, as a YUSU bar, the new facility is available for all students and staff on Heslington East: “You cannot put any personal and unimportant collegiate gains first by saying ‘[the bar] definitely has to go in Goodricke’, when the available room is obviously not catered to both colleges; we had to take a really responsible stance and say, ‘the bar is going to be physically placed within the limits of Langwith, but it is going to be a YUSU bar, which is there to cater for the needs of Goodricke and Langwith.”
Pro-vice-chancellor for Students Jane Grenville said of the developments: “Planning is underway for a student bar which will be located in the new Langwith College nucleus (to open in the summer of 2012). The intention is that the bar will be run by YUSU and will service the needs of all students living and studying on Heslington East campus.”
The new bar, alongside the new college buildings, is scheduled to open in September 2012.
PLUS: Introducing The Lounge
Sunday saw the opening of the second YUSU bar, ‘The Lounge’ as part of the James College developments.
While the new Student Centre construction is delayed and building work is ongoing at James College, the new bar (inside the Roger Kirk Centre) has opened on time.
However, Week One sees the bar only in use for ticketed events. It will only be available for regular public use from Week Two onwards.
The new bar menu includes a drinks menu featuring a cocktail named after each college. Students will be able to order the ‘Al-quisential’, ‘Vanquish’, ‘ClubbeD’, ‘Cheeky Fax’, ‘Jamboozle’, ‘Lang John Silver’, ‘Wenti Wallbanger’ and ‘The Goodfather’, each of which were named by students in a competition on Facebook, and will be served in college’s colour.
The bar features a pink backlight and a selection of draught beers, ciders and ales, while the seating has adopted a similar colour scheme to the Courtyard.
The original controversial plans for the bar included the closure of the only ‘traditional pub-style’ bar, McQ’s, which attracted over 350 people to a Facebook group appealing for the bar to remain.
History student Joe Smith commented: “The new bar looks great, I’m just worried that large parts of campus are losing their identity and all becoming like bog standard Wetherspoon’s. In two years’ time, with the new bar, will all of campus just look the same?”